We’re in the 20s now, so Christmas is just around the corner. But as you’ll see by clicking through the jump to catch today’s festive four-color cover, not everyone seems to be very happy about that fact… (more…)

For the past day or so, one particular YouTube link has been generating growing heat among fans. No, not the Dark Knight Rises trailer, though that obviously has been. I’m talking about this:

The source of most of the consternation regarding this video is the title: 2012 JUSTICE LEAGUE CARTOON SERIES SNEAK PEAK. Let me reassure you: that’s simply not true.

What you’re seeing is the DC Super Friends cartoon that was produced by Fisher-Price as a companion for its superlative Imaginext line of toys. In fact, if you click here, you can see the Super Friends cartoon in question as one of the rotating selections in the “Episodes” box on the lower right. The cartoon went up on the site in 2010, and has appeared repeatedly as part of a pack-in DVD that comes with certain Imaginext and Heroworld sets. Often, the episode is on disc with other cartoons featuring other Imaginext expressions, like knights or pirates. The use of “DC Super Friends” as the kids’ brand goes back several years, including the comic that launched in 2008 and the initial Mattel line from 2007.

Many of the fans that believed that this was a preview for a new Justice League series were put off by its younger-skewing nature. Well, Imaginext is a line for small children, pres-school to grade school, and the cartoons reflect that. This Super Friends take runs in the vein of the similarly targeted “Super Hero Squad” from Marvel: goofy humor and no serious danger. If you’re four, these cartoons are pretty swell. If you’re fourteen or forty, well, you weren’t the target audience. I reached out to Warner, and while no official statement was made, I do have the understanding that this was a one-off, produced by Fisher-Price, and made strictly for the toy site and pack-in DVDs.

For now, if you want to see the Justice League in animation, tune in to “Young Justice”. But let’s clarify one more time: this YouTube poster, either out of puckishness or ignorance, posted a misleading title. It’s just Imaginext.

It’s the new Dark Knight Rises trailer. Merry early Christmas, everyone.

To celebrate nine years of publishing (damn fine) comics, AdHouse’s Chris Pitzer shares stories from the creation of nine of their books, including Process Recess, Pulphope and the spectacular Skyscrapers of The Midwest:

I forget what year of the MoCCA Festival it was, but it was still at the Puck building, so that means people were in charge who knew what they were doing. (zing!) I was up walking around, which is a luxury at a show, and I saw some skinny kid with a mini-comic in his hand that I had just heard about. I seem to recall it had just won that Isotope Mini-Comic award, and I was curious to see if I thought the judges had any taste. So I asked that skinny kid if I could buy some of those comics from him. I think he gave them to me, being the shrewd business man that he was. Flash forward a few weeks, I finally get to read them, love them, and want to help him spread the gospel of the Midwest. So we come up with a plan to print the mini-comics into a full size maxi-comic and then let him produce new content as he sees fit. I consider the experience of working with Josh Cotter to be one of the best perks to this old AdHouse thing. He is genuine. I love him.

To completely soapbox for a minute: It’s very possible that you’ve not read Skyscrapers of The Midwest by now. This is something that you really, really should rectify as soon as possible; it’s an amazingly good series, and Josh Cotter is hands-down one of the best creators working in comics today. Pitzer is right; he’s definitely the real thing. As is AdHouse Books in general – Here’s to nine more years, and then plenty more after that.

Update: When reached for comment by Newsarama on the apparent end of the Marvel Adventures line, a representative said, “We remain committed to our all ages books and have some exciting plans you’ll be hearing more about shortly.” — Albert Ching

Original story: It just might be the end of an era: As the new Marvel solicits show, the cost-cutting measures at the House of Ideas that have so far claimed such series as Daken: Dark Wolverine, X-23, Ghost Rider, Herc and Alpha Flight have seemingly claimed another victim: the all-ages line. Solicitations for both Spider-Man and Super-Heroes come with the dreaded “Final Issue!” tag, ending both books’ two-year run.

While it’s possible that the books will get relaunched with next month’s solicits – What has been known at various times as the all-ages, Marvel Age or Marvel Adventures line has gone through multiple relaunches since it launched in 2003, after all – considering not only Marvel’s current attitude towards low-selling titles but also the fact that the launch of a new Toy Story title in March (following all the recent Disney/Pixar reprint books) might be pointing towards a shift in attitude regarding how to lure younger readers, that does seem a little unlikely. Despite the low direct market sales for the line, this cancellation still comes as a surprise, as the all-ages books had previously been considered to be facing a different financial metric than the Marvel Universe books, with more sales in digest form outside of the Direct Market.

It’s a sad end for a line that has continually offered a lot of great stories, as well as been home to a number of wonderful creators throughout its eight-year run; both Jeff Parker and Fred Van Lente had lengthy runs on books in the line, and Paul Tobin has been coming up with some really great Spider-Man stories for a number of years now. Maybe it won’t be missed by as many people as, say, Bendis’ Avengers will be, but it will be missed.

Well, this is certainly disturbing: How one line in a recap text page can retroactively turn Wolverine into a potential statutory rapist:

The description of Squirrel Girl as a teenage heroine is a new one, as far as I can determine. In a previous issue’s synopsis, Squirrel Girl is referred to as an “arboreal hero,” not a teenage hero. Even taking the most liberal definition of “teenager,” that would make Squirrel Girl, in continuity as it stands now, 19 years of age at the most. To be realistic, though, most people wouldn’t refer to a 19-year-old as a teenage girl. So we’re faced with the prospect of Squirrel Girl being in her mid-teens. And judging from the tone of the first scene pictured above, it’s been some time since Squirrel Girl and Wolverine have crossed paths.

Go read the whole thing for the full explanation. To be fair, all of the Wolverine/Squirrel Girl relationship material is implied instead of outright stated – Although it’s hardly subtle – but nonetheless, Don MacPherson is very, very right: Ewww.

We’re in the closing stretch of the calendar now, and what better way to celebrate that fact than with a good old fashioned fun run? Well, maybe not so “old fashioned”… (more…)

One week from today, you’ll be opening presents and feeling that familiar flush of excitement, joy and ultimately disappointment that no-one got you that present that you were really, really hoping for, even though you didn’t actually tell anyone because, seriously, how could they all not just know? Or, maybe that’s just me. Ahem. Click through for today’s comic cover! (more…)

He’s a well-known figure, famous for his distinctive bulky red look and impeccable manners, but the star of today’s Christmas cover isn’t Santa Claus. Why don’t you click through to see who’s here to spread good cheer? (more…)

Lovely art alert:

That’s JH Williams III’s variant cover for the first issue of The Secret History of D.B. Cooper, a new Oni Press series by Brian Churilla that debuts in March next year. The regular cover (by Churilla, who you might know from the Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet mini awhile back) is kind of spectacular, as well: (more…)

Update, 3:15 p.m. eastern: Add another Season One book to the list — Doctor Strange: Season One, by writer Greg Pak and artist Emma Rios, recently of the Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger miniseries. The graphic novel is scheduled for September, and as pointed out by Graeme below, it’s another instance of an established Marvel writer — Pak’s worked on everything from Incredible Hulk to Alpha Flight to Astonishing X-Men — working on the Season One line. Covers for all three follow after the jump. — Albert Ching

Original story: Looks like Marvel’s happy with the reception the announcement of its first Season One books has gotten, with two new books having been announced for the line today: Hulk: Season One by Fred Van Lente and Tom Fowler and Ant-Man: Season One by Tom DeFalco and Horacio Domingues. Ant-Man is due out in July and Hulk is scheduled for August, and both continue the line’s mission to refresh the origins and early adventures of some of Marvel’s big names (Well, and Ant-Man). VanLente and DeFalco’s selections as writer are something of a surprise considering that earlier books in the line have used more up-and-coming talent instead of creators so firmly established at Marvel, but as long as the stories are good, who cares where they come from…?

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Oh, the yuletide time is most definitely here again, but that doesn’t mean that crime is taking a holiday. Why, today’s Christmas cover features the biggest heroes of the Marvel Universe all chasing after one particular naughty culprit… (more…)

Though this trailer is only 25 seconds longer than the original Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance trailer, this one counts as the  “Theatrical Trailer” while the other one was just a “Teaser.” And what a tease it was, ending with a shot of Ghost Rider gleefully urinating fire. The tone of this one is far more serious and plot-heavy, with barely a hint of the over-the-top humor seen in the teaser — but what it lacks in that, it makes up in Idris Elba.

Here’s the trailer:

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance — the sequel to 2007′s Ghost Rider and once again starring Nicolas Cage in the title role — is scheduled to debut in theaters on Feb. 17, 2012.

There’s a great thread over at the CBR forums where fans list the unresolved plots in Marvel comics that they wish we could get some closure to, including some that I completely agree with (Hi, Silent War! Hello, Xorn in general!). Loose ends and stories that never quite work out the way they were supposed to are just one of those things that happen with serialized fiction, especially serialized fiction handled by multiple creators, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not frustrating when a plot you’re enjoying suddenly ends up cut short and never mentioned again for whatever reason.

It’s obviously not just Marvel that suffers from this; twenty-odd years – and at least one universe-wide reboot – after the series was canceled, I still wish someone would pick up the “John Stewart is a Guardian now” plot from Green Lantern: Mosaic. Sticking with Green Lantern, I wonder what, if anything, was ever planned for Lord Malvolio from the Action Comics Weekly run. There were all manner of plots hinted at at the end of Flash: Rebirth that never got picked up, more recently (The Gorilla City cave paintings, Wally’s kids, etc.) and the various multiple threads abandoned as a result of the New 52 replacing the old DCU and pulling some characters out of continuity altogether.

Of course, at least the Marvel and DC characters get to survive, or have the chance of surviving – Think about all of the truncated stories from series or entire publishers that disappeared, never to be seen again (or, at least, not in that specific incarnation): Pity the poor fans of the !mpact line from the early 1990s – the various revivals really haven’t been the same – or Eclipse or First’s characters (Not forgetting, of course, the quasi-legendary Miracleman) or any of the many, many others throughout the years. The idea of the comics limbo as seen in Grant Morrison’s Animal Man all those years ago comes to mind, when imagining all the stories and characters left incomplete out there. If you could grab one to magically bring to completion, which would it be? And why?

Rumors, Facebook statuses and Twitter updates have been circulating from the comic community that Captain America co-creator Joe Simon and famed comic artist Eduardo Barreto have died.

We’re trying to confirm and Newsarama will update more as information is available.

update: Via ComicsBeat, Simon did pass away as with confirmation from Simon’s son’s Facebook. He was 98 and leave behind a legacy that is unlikely to be repeated. Also have confirmation that Barreto has passed away as well, sadly at only the age of 57.

If you’re a budding comic creator – or just as in love with podcasts as I am – then you might want to give a listen to the new Making Comics podcast hosted by iFanboy’s Josh Flanagan and Comics Experience‘s Andy Schmidt (who’s also a former Marvel and IDW editor). As Josh explains,

We’ll be talking about many aspects of the art and industry, lending all the experience and knowledge we (mostly him) can come up with. Whether you’re a writer, artist, writer/artist, colorist, or just someone who appreciates the craft, we hope there will be something for you, and if your dream is to make comics, that you find yourself one step closer to it.

The first episode, on writing comics, is already available, with new episodes due weekly.

We always undo what we did. It’s what we do. We do it every 20 pages. We do it every 30 days. Everything resets. But the point of the story was rather than “nine months later, Norman Osborn’s back in prison” was to undo it all as part of a complete thought of the story itself. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t work, maybe crossovers need to be punches and explosions and the black guy dies and a woman loses her powers and we all persevere into the next bold morning. I don’t know. I think event comics can be more than that formula.

That’s Matt Fraction, talking about the fact that Fear Itself undid itself in three epilogue issues released the month after its completion in an interview with Albert on the front page last week. Later in the same interview, he said “I am sorry, we did not kill a black guy, and a woman didn’t lose her powers. That did not happen. Guilty as charged,” just in case you missed the dismissal of previous crossovers’ long-lasting effects as “killing a black guy and a woman losing her powers” earlier.

This is a page from Avengers: X-Sanction #1, that came out yesterday, with your pre-requisite spoiler warning if you click through: (more…)

What’s that, you say? Only ten days left to go until the big day itself? Why, yes – but that presumes that we’ll all survive the danger threatened by today’s choice of festive comic book cover. Click through if you’re prepared to duck. (more…)

The demise of the print Wizard magazine early this year and The Comics Journal‘s move to becoming mostly an online publication has led to a dearth of comic book magazines on physical shelves, with only the likes of Comics Buyer’s Guide and Alter Ego holding down the fort.

Another publication is joining the fray in February 2012 — Multiverse, a UK publication started in 2010 that’s attempting to gain a foothold in the US market. It’s being released in conjunction with Ardden Entertainment — the publisher of Flash Gordon comics, among others — and is kicking off with a 68-page issue “promotionally priced” at $4.99.

“My goal has always been to produce an entertaining title that occupies the middle ground between the late Wizard and the moved-to-another-plane Comics Journal,” said publisher Mike Conroy in an official press release.

What kind of stuff does Multiverse cover? Taking a look at their website, past issues have included “exclusive interviews” with the likes of Ghost Rider writer Rob Williams and artist Frank Quitely (both Brits) puls I, Vampire writer Joshua Hale Fialkov (American). The two covers for the first two issues of the US edition are after the jump, and notice their use of the Newsarama-coined term “DCnU.”

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If DC’s Justice League Beyond going digital first before seeing print in next year’s ongoing Batman Beyond series made you hopeful that the publisher was considering a push towards more digital debuts, EVP Sales, Marketing and Business Development John Rood has some bad news for you on the latest edition of the Word Balloon podcast:

I think you’ll see us still experimenting, but I don’t think that any time soon digital first will expand greatly as a tool in our toolbox, you know? It’s something we’re experimenting with, but it’s not something that’s going to take a greater share of voice in the coming months. I don’t expect bigger ticket items, in terms of the effort to edit and create them, and then the effort to sell and pay for them, to be digital first any time soon.

There goes my dream of a digital-first Grant Morrison-written World of Krypton mini-series, I guess…