Andy Diggle is no longer under an exclusive contract with Marvel, according to no less of a source than his own Twitter account:

At Marvel, Diggle’s written Thunderbolts, Daredevil and event book Shadowland. His next project to see release is the western miniseries Six Guns, debuting in November. Perhaps best known as the writer of acclaimed Vertigo series The Losers (which inspired a 2010 film), it should be interesting to see where Diggle ends up next.

Tomorrow sees the release of Fear Itself #7, the giant-sized finale to one of the uber-events that’s been keeping the Marvel Universe busy over the last few months. And, because it’s the last event book to finish this year, following things like X-Men: Schism and DC’s Flashpoint, I have only one thought in mind about it: Please don’t suck. (more…)

Premiered at this weekend’s NYCC, Warner Bros. has made the opening of the upcoming Green Lantern: The Animated Series pilot episode available online for us to watch, enjoy and get surprised by the appearance of another Lantern corps so early in the show… Watch after the break!
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With the news from this weekend’s NYCC that the Runaways are going to be showing up in future issues of Avengers Academy alongside other semi-forgotten Marvel teen heroes, I got to wondering: Do teen heroes necessarily work for audiences nowadays?

Don’t get me wrong; I like Avengers Academy a lot, so I’m not asking whether it’s a bad book. But adding the casts of Runaways, Spider-Girl, Young Allies and other canceled books to the line-up of the book just underlines how many different attempts Marvel has made at teen-led series over the years, and how many have just not found enough of an audience to keep going. Add in things like the various X-Men titles – Young X-Men, New X-Men, the revamped New Mutants before that title was given back to its original owners – and there’s a worrying amount of series that never quite found enough readers to keep books alive. (more…)

Mark Millar is at it again. Ahead of Wednesday’s promised announcement of his upcoming series with Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, he’s auctioning off the chance to have a character named after you one more time, with the chance to name the new series’ villain being up for grabs:

Okay, this goes live on Wednesday when the series officially gets announced. So stay tuned.

But the idea hit me when I heard that my old primary [school] in Coatbridge is no longer running school trips for the kids. This school is great and the teachers lovely. Some of my happiest memories are when I attended this place between the ages of five and eleven. But it’s a tough time economically as both the local authorities and some parents themselves have less money than before and I just found out that last year the Christmas panto trip was cancelled… We’ll announce the comic and preview the ad in the morning and then, once the title has been released, we can start the auction.

People with all kinds of disposable income and a desire to see yourself immortalized in a comic: Stay tuned until Wednesday.

A thought occurs about the news that Dan Jurgens and Keith Giffen are to take over the Superman title with #7: What does this mean for OMAC? I’m not sure if Giffen can provide pencils for two regular books each month – I know that he’s fast (If nothing else, his stint doing breakdowns for every issue of 52 – and re-writing one along with Dan Didio – proves that), but that fast? – and somehow, I can’t see the title surviving for very long without his Kirby-esque art and off-kilter, especially considering that it’s already one of the lower selling New 52 books. Just earlier this month, Dan Didio wrote about the first sixteen issues of the title already having been laid out (presumably, in plot form), which suggests cancellation isn’t happening anytime soon, but… will Giffen still be penciling the book after #6?

(I hope so; OMAC is actually one of my favorite of the New 52 books so far, and Giffen’s art, with lovely inks from Scott Koblish, is a large part of that. It’s a high-tech Hulk book with heavy Kirby influence! How could you dislike that?)

This feels like it should be being reported as a much bigger deal, but starting in January 2012, Viz Media will be making digital versions of Weekly Shonen Jump available in English two weeks after the original Japanese versions have been released, with editions being made available on all iOS platforms (the iPad, iPod and iPhone) for a month-long 99 cent rental charge, or annual $25.99 subscription fee.

Firstly: That’s a great price point. Secondly: Digital subscriptions! Considering that it looks like western comic companies aren’t quite ready for Apple Newsstand just yet, this, the Walking Dead deal and the Archie Mighty Crusaders announced earlier this week might be the best we’re going to get on that front anytime soon…

So, there I was, thinking that Marvel seemed to be displaying an entirely schizophrenic attitude towards the original graphic novel format as evidenced in today’s Digital House of Ideas panel at NYCC – wherein SVP Sales David Gabriel talked about the cost of the Castle OGN being “astronomical” and the reason we shouldn’t expect to see many OGNs coming from the publisher before going on to talk about the upcoming Season One line of hardcover graphic novels – and then it struck me: Season One isn’t a line of original graphic novels.

There is, I admit, very little to back me up on this idea right now, but almost since the announcement of Season One, various Marvel editorial bodies have talked about mysterious “ancillary revenue streams” that support the project. I’d assumed this meant some kind of Disney Store buy-in/publishing co-op for the project, but during the Digital House of Ideas panel, Gabriel mentioned what he called “a soft directive” for artists to draw panels that looked good on mobile digital devices, which made me wonder: Is Season One going to be serialized on some Disney outlet, digital or otherwise, before it’s released as a graphic novel?

There’re so many reasons to love this opening page to next week’s Uncanny X-Men #544, not least of which is that it seems like a weird parody of everything that’s happened to the original X-Men since their creation:

I have to admit, I could accept a new X-title if it just consisted of this kind of redialoguing of old issues from the Lee and Kirby run forward. If nothing else, imagine how awesome the Magneto dialogue could be.

It’s official: Patty Jenkins will direct Thor 2.

Marvel Studios confirmed rumors with the announcement that Jenkins, whose experience includes directing the movie Monster as well as episodes of AMC’s The Killing as well as Entourage and Arrested Development, will helm the second installment of the movie version of the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby character. Chris Helmsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston were also mentioned in the announcement, with all three returning for the movie, due for release November 15, 2013.

Should we consider Hiddleston’s involvement to be an Avengers spoiler…?

If you’re looking for signs that this whole New 52 thing is working out for DC Comics, here’s a good one: They’ve just extended the returnability of the books through April 2012, according to a report on Bleeding Cool. Although the extension comes with a reduction in the number of titles eligible for return, this nonetheless demonstrates the level of confidence DC has in the New 52 as a line – Eight months’ worth of returnability is pretty impressive, and raises the question: If they choose to extend it again, will it be to a year, or to a permanent, ongoing arrangement?

(Bleeding Cool is also reporting that Batman and Action Comics will both start being offered in Digital Combo variants as of #5 of each title, for a dollar above the “regular” price.)

Mark Waid on why comics (Specifically, in response to a question about what drew him to the Victorian setting of Ruse):

I rail heavily against graphic novels that have no strong visual component; if your graphic novel is a story about modern guys in modern clothes living in an ordinary modern world that I can visit on TV, for free, chances are you picked the wrong medium in which to tell your tale. One of the advantages of comics and graphic novels is that they allow the writer and illustrator as many set pieces, “special effects,” and visual popcorn as the imagination allows, all on a limitless budget.

I’m not sure I completely agree with the idea that a story about “modern guys in modern clothes living in an ordinary modern world” means that it’s in the wrong medium – That describes some of my favorite comics, from Eddie Campbell’s Alec and Nick Abadzis’ Hugo Tate to Dave McKean’s Cages – but I am fully, completely on board with the idea that comics should have a strong visual component, and with Waid’s description of the advantages of the comics format.

Jim Shooter reveals the secret origin of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (in three parts – One, two, three), including the previously unknown inspiration for the project:

In early 1982, I was in the Barnes & Noble on Fifth Avenue and I came across this very cool book, Jane’s Fighting Ships. Every page or so had a clear picture of a warship plus its specifications and key information. Wow. Nifty-keen!

There were other, similar books, too, notably Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft. Extra groovy!

The succinct, info-packed pages of those books reminded me of the Night Girl “dossier” that I’d failed to get into a Legion of Super-Heroes issue some six years earlier. The little light bulb went on—why not publish a book like those featuring Marvel characters

I remember being very into the “Deluxe Edition” of the Official Handbook back when it was coming out; back when I was first getting into comics, this was the kind of thing that really cemented my love affair with the Marvel Universe of the time because, wow! Lookit all these characters! There’s been a lot said, in the years since the Official Handbook debuted, along the lines of that idea taking the wonder and mystery out of superhero comics and, in many ways, I agree – but, as a ten year old kid, or however old I was at the time, I didn’t think about it in terms of limiting potential, but constantly revealing all new worlds of possibility on a monthly basis. I could be wrong, but I think I first discovered some of my favorite characters in that series. Am I alone in that…?

Marc Bernardin is the new ongoing writer of Static Shock starting with issue #7, currently due March 2012, DC announced this morning on The Source. Scott McDaniel, the current artist on the book, is sticking around with the new scribe.

John Rozum launched the book as part of the DC New 52 initiative, and had the distinction of being the first creative change for the line-up, resigning from the title just one week after the first issue was released.

Bernardin has extensive credits in TV and comics, having previously written The Authority for DC under the now-defunct WildStorm banner. Currently, he writes for SyFy’s Alphas. On the Source, he had this to say about the new gig:

“The thing that excites me, as both a writer and a reader, about STATIC SHOCK is that it features a hero that we don’t really know yet — at least, in comics, anyway. (Fans of the Static Shock TV show will kindly forgive me.) Virgil Hawkins is young, still figuring out the full extent of his powers, and navigating the full range of teenage tragedies: Being the new kid in a new school, asking out the pretty girl, finding time for his homework, etc. And he’s one of the few young heroes without a built-in father figure: He’s not an offshoot of Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, or the Martian Manhunter. He’s his own man, for better or for worse. And all of that offers a lot of grist for the writer-y mill. And I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel a humbling sense of responsibility to get this one right. The late Dwayne McDuffie still stands as a titan in this industry – and while I’m not so presumptuous as to think I can write Static as well as he did, I’m hoping I can write a Static he’d get a chuckle out of.”

This afternoon sees the opening of this year’s New York Comic-Con, meaning that we’re in for at least two-and-a-half days – Like anything big ever really happens on Sundays of cons, come on – of announcements and news and all manner of stories from the Big Two and all manner of indies (As you might expect, we’ll have all you need to know, including a live video stream, all over Newsarama over the next few days). Lucas has already picked his ten things-to-see over on the main site, but I’m curious: What are you looking for from the last big convention of 2011? Comment away, dear readers!

Barnes & Noble is no longer the only bookstore chain overreacting to the DC Comics/Amazon Kindle Fire exclusive digital deal, with Books-A-Million following in its footsteps and pulling all 100 titles that will be made digitally available to Kindle Fire users exclusively from its shelves. Publishers Weekly quotes CEO Terrance Finley as explaining that the chain “will not promote titles in our stores showrooms if publishers choose to pursue these exclusive arrangements that create an uneven playing field in the marketplace.”

As with Barnes & Noble, it’s unclear whether or not the titles will be returned to shelves when the four month Amazon exclusivity period finishes.

It’s a fairly classic good news/bad news moment for Jonathan Hickman fans, as Image Comics announces that Feel Better Now won’t be released this month as originally solicited, but that’s because it’s going to be a much longer book than originally intended.

“Unfortunately, during the course of creating this story, it got bigger. Far beyond the 40 pages we had allocated for the book, and, as a result, I have decided to give the story the scope I feel it deserves,” Hickman says in the PR. “Right now, we think the best thing to do is pull it from Diamond and re-solicit the book at a later date when we can firm up the final price point, page count and delivery date. I apologize for the inconvenience, but sometimes these things take on a life of their own and FEEL BETTER NOW is a story that deserves a full canvas.”

Running on time, however, are the reissue of The Nightly News and the collection of The Red Wing, due November and October respectively. Hickman also says that he’s already at work on next year’s The Manhattan Projects and new ongoing series Secret.

Earlier this week, I asked what Marvel was up to in May next year, to coincide with the Avengers movie. Rich Johnston thinks he knows: a brand new Avengers #1, by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. Which… I really hope isn’t the case, or at least, not the entire case, because, well, we’ve seen this before, in so many ways. We’re not even two years out from the last Avengers #1 by Bendis, which was his… what, fourth and fifth attempts (New Avengers volume 1, Mighty Avengers, Dark Avengers, Avengers and New Avengers volume 2, for those wondering), and we’ve already seen Bendis and Bagley work on an Avengers title, back during the second story arc of Bendis’ Mighty Avengers. There’s just not enough there to really seem important, on the face of it.

It’s a weird problem; Bendis is clearly involved with the Avengers franchise long-term, and so any relaunch to tie in with the movie – and there will be one, following relaunches for Invincible Iron Man, Mighty Thor and Captain America for the months of their movies – will come with him on board. But because he’s done so many of these by now, it’s getting harder and harder for there to be enough reason for readers to care; this upcoming relaunch will have even more problem topping the previous one, which came with The Heroic Age and a relaunch of the entire Avengers line.

So, what is the hook for this new series? That’s still unknown at this point – although I suspect we’ll find out during this weekend’s New York Comic-Con – so I’m throwing it out for comments, with a twist: What, if anything, would get you excited about the prospect of a sixth Avengers #1 written by Brian Michael Bendis?

Mark Millar would like you to know that he loves comics, and that movie adaptations are just an added benefit:

I’ve been very lucky to have my books picked up as movies as often as they have. Like Stan Lee and Stephen King, I’ve got a very fortunate track record in these things and a particular bunch of story ideas that execs seem to like. I see nothing to be ashamed of in this. In fact, I see it as a massive, massive boon. Creator-owned projects used to be done as side gigs, creators working at Marvel or DC doing projects they often didn’t like to pay the bills while their real labour of love didn’t really bring them in enough cash to live on. The Hollywood options and adaptations have meant that, like a couple of friends before me, I’ve been able to strike out on my own and afford to do my own thing. As a comic book creator that’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster would have KILLED for the opportunities we have right now, where a creator-owned book like Kick-Ass can outsell established characters and the writer and artist get to keep all the rights and all the money. This is a GOOD thing.

He’s writing in response to this article at IGN, which is based around a theory that comics becoming optioned while still mid-publication (or even pre-publication, in some cases) is “doing a disservice to the medium and the potential it offers.” (more…)

Call me cynical, but the most surprising thing about the retcon to Wonder Woman’s personal history – I’m not spoiling it here, although I will under the jump, so be warned – isn’t the retcon itself, but the fact that it’s taken this long to happen. (more…)