Sideshow Collectibles is applying their scary approach to details to one of the scariest dudes in comics — Batman’s perennial arch-nemesis, the Joker. It’s the first product in their DC Comics partnership, and looks to maintain the level of quality that the manufacturer has been known for — remember their Buffy the Vampire Slayer toys from a few years back, complete with an Angel toy that looked eerily like David Boreanaz? The figure also represents DC branching out beyond their in-house DC Direct line of collectibles they’ve been releasing since 1998, and their licensed figures from Mattel regularly hitting Targets and the like.

Joker here will be showcased this week at Comic-Con International: San Diego, though there’s no price or release date yet. Four pictures of the J-man are after the jump.

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Following the current four-issue miniseries and a glut of positive press, Archie Comics is launching a Kevin Keller ongoing series starting in February 2012, as reported by The New York Times.

Additionally, the article notes that an adult Kevin will make an appearance in Life with Archie, the publisher’s magazine format title that depicts two alternate Archie futures; one where he’s married to Betty and one where he’s married to Veronica.

Kevin is the first openly gay character in the company’s 70-year history, having first debuted in last year’s Veronica #202. Newsarama interviewed the character’s creator, veteran Archie writer and artist Dan Parent, last month about the current miniseries.

By now, you’ve probably seen Marvel editor Nick Lowe explain that the Prelude to Schism mini-series wasn’t really a prelude to Schism:

“Prelude” was a thematic precursor to “Schism.” It is not chapter one as far as the story goes. It was very important to us that the story of “Schism” start with #1, but there was a lot of ground to cover to frame the coming events of “Schism.” “Prelude” is about leadership in general and specifically Cyclops’ leadership. It was important to us to have something dealing with that in a small package so readers didn’t have to read the last four years of books to get it all.

Various people have asked why it was called Prelude to Schism in that case, or why the same ground couldn’t have been covered in another way (A oneshot book? In Schism itself?), but the weirdness surrounding this issue reminds me of the weirdness around Marvel’s Iron Age mini-series, in which #1 is actually the second issue, continuing on from Iron Age Alpha, which is officially a one-shot for… well, no immediately apparent reason (It even ends on a cliffhanger, which is resolved in #1 of the Iron Age series proper – A first issue that doesn’t actually explain the set-up of the series outside of the recap page at the start. I think you’re seeing my problem here). (more…)

Once a week I sift through the millions of Etsy listings to find the best in geek chic for Blog@ readers. Last week was a killer for me because I did a special extended edition in honor of the end of Harry Potter (Can you believe I didn’t buy ONE thing?!). Regardless, another big movie event is happening this week and therefore Captain America is getting his time in the spotlight. Here’s a few things you could sport to make you feel like the First Avenger.

If you were watching Captain America on television this week instead of a movie theater I’d suggest this Comic Slate Coaster. Made by user BlameItOnBadLuck, the coaster is waterproof and 4 inches by 4 inches. $6.

Most of the items I found for Cap surrounded around his shield. Go figure. Here’s an awesome set of Captain America Shield Cufflinks from user funkygiftshop for a frugal $1. Or, if you’d prefer to see Cap running out of your sleeve, try these cufflinks from user ivcreations55 for $25.

I know someone who’s going to go absolutely wild for this Captain America Shield Bag. User CreoNodo writes, “Please don’t throw this bag at people (unless absolutely necessary).” Sure, take ALL the fun out of it! A pretty sweet creation, albeit a bit pricey, at $95.

I see these fun voodoo doll type keychains at conventions all the time but I’ve never come across a Captain America String Doll. User Stringdollworld handcrafted this mini-Cap from a single piece of flax rope and says it can be used as a keychain, a mobile phone strap, added to jewelry or any other similar use. $6.99.

Heading to a Renaissance Fair this year? Going LARPing with friends soon? How can you pass up this Captain America Chainmail Shirt?? I may have one reason, user BladeAvenger is selling it for $1,000. But you cannot deny the craftsmanship here. The user says the shirt fits a man who can wear up to a large t-shirt size in the broadness of shoulders and about a 36″ waist and designed it down to a point to be reminiscent of Cap’s original shield.

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 been a year since the release of Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, and finally the question “So, what’s Bryan Lee O’Malley doing next?” has been answered: He’s working on a new graphic novel to be released in 2013. It’s called Seconds, and it’ll come not from Oni Press (O’Malley’s publisher for not just the Scott Pilgrim series, but also Lost At Sea), but mainstream publisher Villard Books. The news comes from Publishers Weekly, but that’s all we’re getting for now:

While the announcement of a new title coming from O’Malley will be met by excitement in the graphic novel and comics community, the cartoonist has declined to provide any more information than title and publisher for the forthcoming graphic novel.

If 2013 seems a long time away, well, there’s always O’Malley’s spectacular Twitter account to keep you entertained…

While we won’t have the video embedded for you here (sorry, but it’s disappearing just as quickly as it shows up), the Amazing Spider-Man teaser that is likely to premiere at the SDCC panel for the movie later this week has leaked online.

The big focal points for the teaser are a slightly darker tone to the story, Peter being a bit more of a loner by choice, and that crazy POV sequence at the end. Whether the movie itself will ever show us what it looks like being inside the Spider-Man mask, the teaser nailed the effect, and has people talking.

The teaser can currently be found on What Would Tyler Durden Do, but no guarantees, folks. When the real-deal gets released later this week, we’ll have it here for you asap.

I may disagree with Tom Brevoort on… well, a lot of things, but I loved this take on the difference between DC and Marvel’s particular universes from his Formspring account:

I don’t think I really have the space to do this topic justice here. But to try to make a start of it: there’s a fundamental difference in the way the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe are oriented. By its nature, the DCU has a more optimistic outlook on the world, and the Marvel U has a more pessimistic outlook. Now, that doesn’t mean that bad things don’t happen in the DCU and good things don’t happen in the Marvel U. But it does mean that the DCU is a place where people look up in the sky and admire Superman, whereas people look up and shake their fists in anger at Spider-Man. (more…)

It’s sad news that Peter Laird has announced the end of the Xeric Award for upcoming indie cartoonists, especially looking at Laird’s explanation as to why:

When I began the Xeric Foundation back in 1992, things were very different. The Internet — and web-based publishing — was in its infancy. This has changed, radically, and the Xeric Foundation needs to change accordingly.

The advent of essentially free web publishing has forever altered the way aspiring comic book creators can get their work out into the public eye. With this in mind, I have decided that it makes sense that the Xeric Foundation will no longer provide grants to self-publishing comic book creators, and instead devote all of its available grants funds to charitable organizations.

Ignoring that webcomics and print comics are two different beasts – and that the rise of one does not necessarily mean a drop-off in those wanting to pursue the other – I’m surprised that Laird is dropping the grant altogether, instead of perhaps offering smaller grants for webcomic creators. After all, “essentially free” is not the same as “actually free,” and the more popular a webcomic, the greater the server costs.

I’m not begrudging the donations to charitable organizations – Just the opposite – but I do wish there had been some way to keep the support system for new creators in addition to that. After all, it’s not like there are multiple Peter Lairds out there offering money to the next generation of comic creators…

Mentioned a couple of times by Rich Johnston over at Bleeding Cool today, the potential new Hulk status quo sounds like a tempest in an outrage teacup waiting to happen. Maybe possibly spoilers under the jump, so be warned. (more…)

I had an odd reaction, reading DC’s description of the new DCU Superman as “Timeless and modern, classic and contemporary, but younger, brasher and more brooding” earlier today. Something along the lines of “Superman isn’t brasher or brooding.” It’s a silly reaction to have, of course; Superman is a fictional character, so he’s whatever his creators decide he is at any particular moment, but he’s a character with such a long history – and, more importantly, such a consistent history, in terms of portrayal – that the idea of him being anything other than inherently good, stable and… well, vaguely paternal, in a strange way, seems “wrong” to me.

(The idea that Superman should be paternal is probably something that DC Comics would hate – It makes him harder to relate to, for younger readers, after all – but it’s also something that they’ve accidentally promoted for decades, by making Superman the role model and inspiration for so many of their other characters: By making a point of showing him as the figurative Daddy of the DCU, he immediately becomes a father figure to readers, too.)

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen Superman reimagined as younger and brasher, or broody: Think about Superman: Earth One, or Smallville. It seems that that’s what Superman does, when he escapes regular continuity – He gets younger and brasher and maybe a little broodier, as well (The only place that wasn’t true was All-Star Superman, giving me the strongest hope that the new DCU Superman will be more than the latest installment of The Man Of Steel Pouts Because No-One Understands How Hard It Is To Be All-Powerful And An Alien). It feels overly reductive, and insulting to the audience – A suggestion that, in order to be the kind of character that the readers can more easily empathize with, he has to be moody and mopey and angst-ridden. Why can’t we just have Superman being the Superman we all expect him to be, and just have great stories starring that guy?

(Also: How long can a character really be “younger, brasher and more brooding” before that goes beyond getting old and turns into being annoying? That’s the starting place for a character, somewhere for them to grow from, surely?)

Perhaps you’ve seen a bootleg version of this, quickly removed without a trace after Warner Bros. released the hounds on YouTube pirates. But hey: this is the official, above-board teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, the last installment of the Christopher Nolan-directed Batman trilogy. Watch below now, wish that summer 2012 wasn’t so far away later:

The Dark Knight Rises stars Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, and is scheduled for release on July 20, 2012.

This is a teaser trailer for 2012′s The Avengers. Watch at your own risk — as I viewed the clip, all I could think to myself was how cool it would be if I saw it for the first time in a theater, instead of a shaky fancam YouTube clip — and read on after the jump for some more potential fun-ruining details. (Pro tip: only click “read the rest of the entry” if you want to deprive yourself of an awesome surprise.)

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The Boy Wizard overtook the Dark Knight over the weekend to become the highest grossing weekend film opening of all time with $168.8 million dollars in ticket sales in the North America alone. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 made a whopping $476 million worldwide.

Deathly Hallows Part 2′s $168.8 million easily overtook the previous record holder, 2008′s The Dark Knight’s $158.4 million, over the weekend. It also beat Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides from earlier this year which at the time held the biggest debut at the international box office when it made $262 million.

Warner Bros. Pictures President of Domestic Distribution, Dan Fellman said in a statement, “These numbers are amazing, but they are only part of the story. It is impossible to quantify how thrilled and grateful we all are that both critics and audiences — especially loyal Harry Potter fans — continue to support the film. This is the culmination of an extraordinary decade, and a reflection of the hard work and dedication of many, many people on both sides of the camera, beginning with the brilliant J.K. Rowling, as well as producer David Heyman. We applaud them all.”

President of International Distribution, Veronika Kwan-Rubinek said, “Harry Potter is truly a cultural phenomenon the world over. Whether in German, French, Japanese, Russian, or any language, international audiences have embraced the Harry Potter films over the years, with the powerful finale punctuating just how special the property is.”

The fellow Warner Bros. franchises shared the screen over the weekend as well. The first teaser for The Dark Knight Rises played before Deathly Hallows Part 2.

In a few months, DC Comics will evidently have a new origin and backstory for Hawkman. But for the moment, this is where his history and continuity stand.

It began when the planet Thanagar, a humanoid culture that worshiped birds and the power of flight, sent out scout ships. One such ship crashed on Earth during the days of Ancient Egypt and its power source, the gravity-defying Nth metal, was discovered by Prince Khufu Kha-Taar. Khufu discovered that this metal allowed him to fly and believed the scout ship had been a chariot belonging to Horus, the hawk-god of light. Later, Khufu and his love Chay-Ara was killed by a knife made of Nth metal. It’s unique psycho-reactive properties bonded their souls together and so Khufu and Chay-Ara were reborn time and time again, always finding each other, always fighting for justice in some way while wearing the symbol of the hawk.

In the early 20th century, they were reborn as Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders. Upon discovering the Nth metal knife of old, Carter now remembered his first life on Earth and was driven to become a warrior again. With the Nth metal and a wing harness, he became the superhero Hawkman. Shiera (who also became his wife later on) took on the identity of Hawkgirl. Carter became a founding member of the Justice Society of America and later served as its chairman for many years until he, along with most other costumed heroes, finally retired in the 1950s.

During his career as Hawkman, Carter met a man named Paran Katar from the planet Thanagar, a scientist who had traced the journey of the lost scout ship that had crashed in Egypt centuries before. Inspired by Carter’s exploits, Paran returned to Thanagar with his half-human son Katar Hol and he started a new police force known as the wingmen, each member being armed with wing-harnesses, hawk helmets and Nth metal. Eventually, the wingmen became a militaristic arm of an increasing corrupt, totalitarian government. Katar Hol became a wingman but learned the truth of how far his planet had fallen. After coming to Earth with his partner Shayera Thal, Katar decided to remain on Earth and was hailed as the new Hawkman while Shayera was labeled Hawkwoman. (more…)

Archaia’s forthcoming graphic novel, Rust: Visitor in the Field, has been acquired by 20th Century Fox to be adapted into a film.

The book, set to be released this September, was written and illustrated by Royden Lepp. From Archaia: “Rust is a high-octane adventure set in the prairie lands of an unknown time. Life on the Taylor family farm was difficult enough before Jet Jones crashes into the barn, chased by a giant decommissioned war robot! Oldest son Roman Taylor struggles to keep his family’s small farm afloat as the area heals from a devastating world war. While the rest of his family may not trust the mysterious boy with the jetpack, Roman believes the secrets of Jet’s past may be the key to their survival.”

Deadline reports writer Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) will handle script duties while Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class) and Archaia’s own Editor-In-Chief Stephen Christy will produce. Some very nice news for Archaia to walk into San Diego Comic-Con with next week to be sure. Congrats to them!

Over at The Comics Journal, Shaenon Garrity runs through the history of webcomics, from origin to… well, the future, perhaps:

Webcomics are, in fact, becoming memes; the most successful are those that can flee their original context and put a girdle round the earth, skipping from format to format.  T Campbell argues that graphic/text memes like Hipster Ariel (look it up) are effectively comics.  What’s more, they’re comics anyone can produce, publish, and share in minutes.

Is this the future of webcomics: stick figures and screencaps that can fit to an iPhone?  Maybe, but at the same time, good webcomics are better than ever.

There’s an argument to be made that webcomics may end up being the future of comics, so this is definitely an interesting read – and something I’d like to see expanded upon, to be honest.

No, I’m seriously asking.

This is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

This is an unnamed foreign dignitary from X-Men: Schism #1, by Carlos Pacheco, Cam Smith and Frank D’Armata:

Now, I’m not asking “Wow, does an obvious swipe leave Marvel open to legal action,” because if anyone at the publisher was concerned about that, Greg Land wouldn’t be working on Uncanny X-Men right now. But what I am talking about is – That’s clearly Ahmadinejad. Yes, the Marvel U Ahmadinejad apparently started losing his hair earlier, but the similarity is unmistakable… which makes this panel all the more problematic: (more…)

TALES OF MR. RHEE is brought to you by . . .
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“When Captain America throws his mighty shield, all those who chose to oppose his shield must yield.” It’s hard not to think of those enduring (albeit somewhat awkward) ’60s cartoon lyrics when watching this brand new Captain America: The First Avenger clip that debuted on IGN. In it, he slings his shield for offensive purposes in the classic comic book fashion. Watch below!

Captain America: The First Avenger, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Chris Evans, is out July 22.

2012′s Spider-Man reboot film, the Marc Webb-directed Amazing Spider-Man, is on the cover of Entertainment Weekly‘s annual pre-Comic-Con issue, and the accompanying images show that Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy essentially looks like a John Romita Jr. drawing come to life, Cool World-style.

Plus, definitive confirmation of what has been the going assumption for the last few months: that the film will have mechanical webshooters rather than the organic ones seen in Sam Raimi’s 2002-2007 trilogy.

The nine images posted on EW.com also show Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors, Sally Field and Martin Sheen as Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and detail shots of the back and front of Andrew Garfield in the new Spidey suit. The magazine goes on sale tomorrow, July 15.