Over on his workblog, Journey Into Mystery writer Kieron Gillen explains his use of magic in comics:

When you come to pure unprecedented magic… it’s something I try and put on the table as early as possible, at least subconsciously. For minor stuff along the way, you can get away with it (For example, Hela re-arranging her fortress), but for big stuff the plot turns on, you want to introduce it as early as possible as a possibility. To choose an example from THE FINE PRINT, in the final issue Thor gets his mother Gaea to reject the sword from the ground. Now, I could have written that scene and just had Thor done it. As in, Gaea’s his mum. Why not?

Well, Gaea being his mum wasn’t an element in this story. The only people who would have gone along with it were people who’ve been reading Thor forever – and probably not even them. So, in the previous issue, I have a scene where Gaea appears to being tortured in hell. At the time, this appears to be a moral challenge for Thor – as in, can he leave his mum here? And it absolutely is – but for the story as a whole, it’s about introducing the idea of Gaea being part of even Hell’s soil, so Thor’s solution at the end isn’t a deus ex machina.

For me, if a story’s conclusion involves a magical ability which hasn’t been put into play in advance, it’s probably a story that doesn’t work. Probably.

I like that Gillen’s magic rule is essentially just good writing: “Don’t pull something important out of thin air at the last moment.” (I’m not being sarcastic; I wish that more writers would bear that in mind when writing magical characters.)

There’s more at the link, including why Journey Into Mystery doesn’t necessarily fall under the same rules, and a promise for a more in-depth post at some point about “something a little bit craft-y involving comics, specifically about compression and decompression,” that I can’t wait for. Go and read.

Are you ready to hear a lot of questions and/or complaining about DC’s “The New 52″ revamp coming in September? Or maybe ask some of those questions or register some opinions yourself? Well, looks like you’ll get several prime opportunities to do just that in two weeks at Comic-Con International: San Diego. The convention hasn’t posted their programming schedule yet, but DC Comics has revealed their full slate of panels on The Source.

It’s 22 panels in all, including a “The New 52″-focused panel on each day — clearly, they’re not running from fan reaction on the topic — and appearances from Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Dan DiDio and more. DC’s full schedule after the jump.

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Jim Shooter continues to reveal all manner of unseen material from the past of Marvel Comics over on his blog, including this tidbit: A treatment for a Spider-Man movie from the mid-1980s, written for Cannon Films, that went nowhere. Just think, the career of Judd Nelson could have been so different…

There’d been a concern that Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger would not be carrying its patriotic name overseas. Well it turns out that will NOT be the case. Mostly.

An Associated Press report today says, “Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios gave distributors around the world the option of shortening the title of  ’Captain America: The First Avenger’ to simply ‘The First Avenger,’ out of concern about anti-American sentiment.” Turns out, only three countries decided to take them up on that offer: Russia, Ukraine and South Korea. “In other territories, the movie will go out with the full title, a sign that the brand value of the Marvel Comics hero trumps any potential anti-U.S. feelings in some parts of the world,” writes the AP.

Paramount declined to comment to The Hollywood Reporter recently, on rumors that the film would be screening at San Diego Comic-Con in two weeks. We already know Marvel isn’t having a big Hall H panel for the film like they did last year with their Avengers cast but we could still see something of Captain America or at least its star. THR writes, “while details are still being worked out, Marvel and Paramount, which is distributing the film, are planning a military salute that would involving star Chris Evans and soldiers stationed in San Diego. They also mention he would be doing signings at the Marvel booth but that all of those plans depend on working out his busy schedule.

Well, here’s some depressing news about this year’s San Diego Comic-Con from Mark Evanier:

There will be no Golden Age Panel this year. I kinda doubt there will ever be one again. To those who complain about this, I have a simple reply: “Fine. You find me 4-6 people who will be at the convention and who worked in comics before around 1960.” If there are such folks, I don’t know about their presence at the con. At the moment, I’m only aware of two…and two is not a panel, especially since one of them (Jerry Robinson) will be the subject of his own spotlight interview on the schedule. (The other, before anyone asks, is Ramona Fradon.)

Admittedly, this was inevitable, but that doesn’t make it any less sad: As time marches on, the number of creators who were around at the beginning of the industry grows smaller and smaller, after all. Evanier goes on to explain that the time that had been held for the Golden Age panel will be well-used, however:

Before a certain person I know starts blaming the convention, let me make clear that this was my recommendation. The con actually cleared room on the schedule for a Golden Age Panel and we’re instead using the time ‘n’ space for the Gene Colan Tribute.

So, iFanboy has exclusive art showing how Barry Allen’s costume comes out of the Flash ring in the new DC Universe (I suspect this may be from the new Flash #1), and… I have no idea what’s happening in those images. His costume not only seems to be entirely modular – which, I guess, makes more sense than the old costume, which seemed to be all one piece with the only opening the mask, which always made me wonder whether Barry had to climb in through there at superspeed, thankful that no-one could see him looking so ridiculous -but also seems to… change shape and attach itself on him? Somehow? Is it like armor? Is it like Wally’s old Speed Force suit, and that’s how it can change shape? Is it made of unstable molecules?

I can’t help but wonder whether, as cool as this art is – and it really is – it’s one of those things that Jack Kirby once described as “Don’t ask! Just buy it!”

No, I’m serious. Over in Tom Brevoort’s weekly Talk To The Hat column at CBR, Captain America and Bucky associate editor Lauren Sankovitch responded to a question about whether the title would be all-flashback following Bucky’s death in Fear Itself #3 by saying “Well…he’s not the ONLY Bucky. Read and see, my friend. Disappointment is not an option.”

So I know that there’s also Rikki Barnes and Jack Monroe, but aren’t they both also dead? I guess there’s also Rick Jones – Where is Rick Jones these days? – but is Sankovitch suggesting that we’re going to get a new Bucky, or that the title is going to flash back to other Buckies in other time periods? Perhaps a bigger clue to the future of the title comes elsewhere in the column, where Brevoort says “I don’t think it’s especially likely that you’ll see us transform “Cap And Bucky” into “Tales Of Suspense.” It’s not unlikely that we might transform it into something else at a certain point, but it’d have to be a title that got across the concept of the series to the audience today.”

Sorry, Bucky… You might not get that long a time in the spotlight, after all…

Once a week I sift through the millions of Etsy listings to find the best in geek chic for Blog@ readers. With the arrival of a new Transformers film last week I decided I’d see what Etsy had to offer in the way of Autobots and Decepticons. This week I thought I’d mix it up. When I do my searches for the column I tend to come across a lot of other really neat items that don’t fit into that week’s theme. But I do bookmark them for later and instead of waiting to bunch them together with other similar items, I’m going to show you a few of them now. I’ll probably wind up doing this now and again because honestly, there’s way too many cool things on Etsy.

It’s safe to say I can never get enough Doctor Who, so when I came across this Empty Child Mini-Print I exploded with glee. User myarmcanfly will sell you this 3.5×5 inch print for $4. I almost did an artist highlight on this seller but I recently did a very large Doctor Who-centric post and didn’t want to overdo it. That being said, please do check out the other Doctor Who prints this user has to offer. Particularly the Ood.

I’m almost purely paying lip service to myself (The Nerdy Bird) with this one. It’s a set of Superhero Wine Charms where the superheroes are made to look like birds. User spiffycool has The Punisher, Superman, The Joker, Batman, The Hulk, Spider-Man and Harlequinn in the set for $39.95. If you don’t drink wine or don’t have use for all of them, spiffycool can make any of them into a pendant, keychain, bookmark or tie tack. Nerdy Bird Fact: I have the Batman-bird charm as a necklace.

And well, if you ARE a wine drinker or a drinker of liquids of any type, might I suggest picking up a set of 4 Mario Themed Coasters to rest them on? User toasterovens has a wide selection of Mario imagery to choose from and they come in a Nintendo controller shaped holder to keep them in when not in use. Though it it were me, I’d keep these out all the time. $25.

There are a lot of fun geek aprons out there these days but these Made to Order Totally 80s Half-Aprons really caught my eye. It says 80s but as user razorbloom points out, she has 70s and 90s options available for you as well. For $53 you can choose from X-Men, Ghostbusters, Roger Rabbit, ALF and loads more.

And now for something I can’t figure out if I think is genius or way too awkward. It’s a Spider-Man Wrist Clutch made from a pair of boys underwear. User…wait for it…crotchtalk…has this one made fully lined with recycled white cotton fabric, sturdy nylon wrist strap and zipper closure for $20.

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!

By Manning/Ross/McKinley/Reddington/Shadowline!

Random speculation? Informed spoiler? Who knows, but one thing is for sure – the idea that Dracula might end up killing a major Marvel icon during Fear Itself is just another reminder that the House of Ideas really, really wants us to believe that vampires are a big deal. (Spoilers, ahead, potentially). (more…)

We may not know who will direct the second Thor movie, due out in 2013 – which means it’ll accompany Iron Man 3 into theaters that summer – but we do, at least, know who’ll write it: Deadline is reporting that Don Payne, one of the writers of the first movie, has signed on to write the screenplay for the sequel. Before you get too excited, however, it’s worth remembering that Payne was one of five writers who worked on the screenplay for Thor, and that Payne’s solo credits include the screenplay for Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer… It’ll be interesting to see if Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, who worked on a different draft of the Thor script, get brought into the production at some point, as well. They might be the only thing left standing between us and the possibility that Hela will be turned into a nondescript cloud of randomness.

Following on from his thoughts on DC Comics’ digital strategy, Warren Ellis takes on Marvel’s digital plans:

Are they then, like DC, looking to digital as a way to increase reach? Well… not yet. I believe they have done some original digital comics. (By which I mean company-owned Marvel comics created for digital-first release.) But I’m not sure there was any great plan to their release. One of the things I like about Marvel is that they move pretty fast and are capable of an entirely random “hey, let’s do this thing for five minutes” move. The whole Marvel Architects cascade-of-events structure they do these days are frankly as organised as Marvel’s ever been on the macro-scale.

Their digital store, then, is a big back-issue bin, with the occasional experiment in day-and-date simultaneous release in print and digital. They’re unlikely to go line-wide day-and-date like DC unless DC’s numbers are explosively successful and stay that way for six months — in digital AND print. Right now, Marvel own the comics stores in terms of dollar sales and market share, and probably see no compelling reason to risk a dilution of those figures. Those figures look good on quarterly reports. And that’s not a knock against Marvel, just an observation of the reality of their business life.

He goes on to consider where Marvel may consider digital sales impacting, and potential ways around it. He also, for the wonks amongst you, points out that “I’m on work-for-hire exclusive to them until the end of the year” (Hey, DC: Ready your checkbooks for December) and gives his take on the $3.99 single issue pricepoint, as well. Go, read.

It’s American Independence Day, but that doesn’t mean that comic book news isn’t happening: the full list of nominations for the 2011 Harvey Awards, named in honor of late cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman, have been announced, with Marvel’s canceled Thor: The Mighty Avenger (and the book’s creative team of Roger Langridge & Chris Samnee), Oni Press ongoing series The Sixth Gun (and that book’s creative team, Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt), satirical webcomic Gutters and Tumors and Echoes writer Joshua Hale Fialkov among the multiple nominees.

The Harvey Awards are scheduled to take place August 20 at the Baltimore Comic Con, roughly a month after the Eisner Awards, part of Comic-Con International: San Diego on July 22. Full list of nominees after the jump.

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NBC’s Wonder Woman pilot is long dead at this point, but that doesn’t mean that title star Adrianne Palicki isn’t going to get to play a famous fictional female known for beatin’ up bad guys. Deadline reports today that she’s enlisting to play Lady Jaye in summer 2012′s G.I. Joe: Cobra Strikes. This joins recent official word that The Rock is officially on board as Roadblock.

Lady Jaye, of course, is the javelin-throwing main squeeze of Flint — who will also be in the movie, played by D.J. Cotrona.

Not the usual spot I would go to for comic book movie news, but the website HollywoodLife.com has an exclusive about the appearance of Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman costume in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. Plus, a fan video has just surface showing perhaps the first shooting footage of the film with Hathaway and Christian Bale.

HollywoodLife spoke with an “insider” on the film’s costume design who had this to say about Hathaway’s Catwoman outfit, “Anne’s outfit is more tactical, like the comic book, than the previous Batman movies. She will definitely be wearing the goggles and it’s going to be less sexy than Halle Berry and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman costumes. She’s going to look more like a robber.”

More like a robber, you say? Funny that, because she is a robber. I know not everyone is but I’m a fan of the current comic design of Catwoman’s costume done by Darwyn Cooke for his run with Ed Brubaker so I’m glad they are leaning more towards that. Brubaker is too it seems as he wrote on Twitter, So psyched to see reports that Ann Hathaway will be wearing a version of the Catwoman costume Darwyn Cooke designed for our run. I had a few ideas about the goggles and headgear, but Darwyn went off and created a Catwoman look that’s lasted ten years already. I don’t think I really thought our version would stick after I left the book. Certainly not all these years now.”

The insider also said, “Fan boys shouldn’t be worried. This costume is going to be form-fitting enough to make Anne look smoking hot.” The website was previously told, “Everything from the looks in her eyes, her head movements, her body–everything is so feline. The role is taking her to new places.”

Speaking of new places, a new location for Wayne Manor is being used in the film and Huffington Post has posted a very shakey, very fuzzy fan video taken on that particular set that features Hathaway and Bale having a conversation. It doesn’t reveal anything plot-wise of course but for those of us dying to see anything from the movie (*cough*me*cough*), it’s worth a watch.

The video itself comes via the YouTube account BatmanManor, and shows Selina and Bruce having a conversation in front of Wayne Manor before Selina takes his hand and they walk away. I’m crossing my fingers for a joke about how cats don’t like to get wet.

Now that we’re hearing more specifics about the relaunch via DC’s retailer summits, some things occur to me. Five things, to be exact:

1. Is the “No More Writing For The Trade” idea that story arcs can be of any length, with collections including multiple story arcs evidence of the influence of Grant Morrison, I wonder? After all, Batman and Robin formalized a short-arc structure of three issues, and then Batman Incorporated took things even further, with arcs lasting two issues.

2. Morrison seems all over the September relaunch, in unexpected ways. Revivals of Animal Man and Frankenstein? Shorter story-arcs? A rebooted continuity that picks and chooses from DCU history? All we need now is someone to come up with a monthly Ultramarines title and we’ll be good to go.

3. I’m surprised more hasn’t been made online about DC dropping the linewide $2.99 rule for September onwards (Justice League and All-Star Western, at least, are $3.99). Didn’t the original announcements say that they’d stick with it all through 2011, or am I imagining that?

4. The apparent confirmation of television spots advertising the line is welcome, but where are those adverts going to be screened, and what exactly are they going to be advertising? How are they going to be any different from the ads for Vertigo that have been running on BBC America for some months, and are they expected to have more of an impact on sales?

5. It’s interesting to see that six months seems to be given as the length of time books have to prove they have an audience before reworking/canceling/replacing gets considered. Is that six months since release, or six months’ worth of sales data? And how far across the board is this likely to be applied – It’s one thing if Demon Knights doesn’t set the sales chart alight, for example, but what if the same is true of Action Comics?

Potentially my new favorite comic blog of the moment is Douglas Wolk’s new one, Dredd Reckoning. Longterm comicinteretters may remember Wolk’s 52 Pick-Up, in which he annotated the hell out of DC’s weekly series following on from Infinite Crisis, but it’s also possible that you know his work from the spectacular Reading Comics book, or his pieces in Rolling Stone, Salon and multiple other places (Full disclosure: He’s also a friend, and one of the most vocal supporters of my move to Portland way back when, so I may be biased in my love of his work). But what makes this particular blog so interesting – especially, I suspect, to those who’ve heard a lot about British anthology comic 2000AD but never actually read any of it – is what he’s doing with it: Reviewing and/or commenting on every single Judge Dredd book in print (and he adds, some that aren’t in print anymore) in roughly chronological order. In other words, it’s the perfect place to read one of comics’ smartest commentators writing about one of comics’ best, and least discussed, series. How can you resist? (more…)

Over at the Beat, Jeff Trexler asks a very weird and interesting question: Is today’s Superman the same character that was created in 1938? And, if he isn’t, does that mean that the Siegel and Shuster heirs have no right to the character? It seems that the 2004 legal victory that gave Neil Gaiman ownership of Medieval Spawn may complicate matters in the ongoing battle over the ownership of the Man of Steel: (more…)