The Avengers, Man of Steel and The Dark Knight Rises are three of the most highly anticipated movies of next year and with the advent of their filming, lots of pictures have surfaced online. Some feature the famous cast members in action, while others show them having fun in their downtime on set. Well, artist Noelle Stevenson has been following the leaks closely, specifically The Avengers, and finally shows us what it’s doing to her.

Stevenson, also known to her fans as Ginger Haze on Tumblr, has a penchant for highlighting the way fans (herself in particular, but I can totally relate) perceive our favorite film or literary characters. Here we have delightfully ridiculous depictions of Loki and Thor, Tony Stark and Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow and of course, the artist herself.

Stevenson also showed us what she saw in her mind after viewing video and shots of Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth filming this scene together recently.

Seriously though, the footage was almost exactly like that.

I love all of Stevenson’s work but I must also direct you to her recent series having fun with X-Men: First Class and, if you’re a Lord of the Rings fan you should also check out her Broship of the Rings. Keep them coming Noelle, you aren’t alone in your superhero world views.

Fans upset that the end of AMC’s The Walking Dead Season 1 veered away from the comics quite a bit will be happy to hear Season 2 has us back on track, heading directly to Hershel’s farm.

New showrunner Glen Mazzara spoke with AMC.com a bit about his past work but also what we can expect to see in The Walking Dead Season 2. “What’s been surprising is that in the graphic novel the story that takes place on Hershel’s farm is really only a few issues. We’ve been able to mine that for many episodes, and we’re very excited about the depth to which we’re able to push the characters, the different dynamics that we’re able to explore,” he told them.

“Our approach to our group of survivors when they reach Hershel’s farm is that they are a plague unto themselves,” he continued. “Nothing goes right for Hershel once Rick and his band show up. They make the zombie apocalypse look like kids in a candy story. What’s interesting is that if this was a show solely about Hershel, Rick and his band would really be the antagonists. And that’s been really surprising because every action that Rick and his band take is completely logical, but you’ll certainly sympathize with Hershel.”

We told you earlier this week that AMC has decided to split the second season of the hit show into two parts. The premiere will air October 16 and be 90 minutes long and after seven episodes the season will pick up again February 12. The role of Hershel will be played by Scott Wilson.

Mazzara also spoke about the adaptations originator. “What’s great about this adaptation is that Robert Kirkman is such a huge part of it. In Crash [his previous show], the writers and director of the film were involved at certain points, not involved at others, and then when the show deviated from what they believed Crash meant, I had a problem as a show-runner,” he said. “On this show Robert has been very open to letting us tell our own story. Robert sees them as two different works of art — and they’re not in conflict with each other. As long as it’s good and as long as it’s scary, he’s happy.”

Speaking of the comic, Mazzara said he’s “dying to meet the Governor” (as we all are) and that his family are excited about his new post. “My son seemed to have a lot of unique ways to kill zombies. None that I really am interested in putting on TV, but that’s a big topic of conversation at the dinner table.”

Once a week I sift through the millions of Etsy listings to find the best in geek chic for Blog@ readers. As a special treat for the start of a brand-new era at DC Comics and the release of Justice League #1, I’ve found one item for each new member of the team. Or at least the members on the cover.

First up, Superman! You’d definitely stand out toting around this Superman Comic Bag. User RebelDowntown created this with comic fabric as the exterior and lined it with red silk on the interior. $35.

l’m kinda in love with this Flash Handmade Felt Bird. “Member of the Justice Flock,” writers user TweetandTweed, “the Flash Bird (a.k.a. The Scarlet Speedster) has superspeed, which allows him to run and move extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes and seemingly violate laws of physics.” Also $35.

The last place you expect to find a Green Lantern is in the kitchen but if they were taking a break from intergalactic law enforcement to cook, I’d like to think they’d be wearing this Green Lantern Apron from user Jordandene. $50.

Who needs a utility belt when you can wear a regular belt? This brown leather and hemp Batman logo belt buckle is $30 from user GettingWeddy.

Ahh Aquaman. There wasn’t too much on Etsy for him but I thought this Recycled Comic ID holder was pretty cute. Just $4 from user Japip, with a different image on the opposite side.

On the other hand, there’s an abundance of Wonder Woman stuff on the crafting website. This Wonder Woman tissue box caught my eye as something different. From user buckaroosmercantile for $14.95.

Pickings were rather slim when it came to the newest member of the new Justice League, Cyborg. I found this Cyborg Mini Plushie from user snowtigra for $5 and this Smallville-era Cyborg t-shirt from JamesLinckeCreations for $17. Hopefully we’ll see a lot more items once the new series gets going.

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!

You know what we think about the DC relaunch. You know what you, the comic reader thinks of the DC relaunch but what about the non-comic readers out there? You know, the ones DC is actually gunning for with this big move. What are they thinking?

Deadline posted a story about Justice League #1 selling out 200,000 copies and the DC relaunch at large. It’s the same type of talk we’ve been seeing for months but what’s really telling are the comments. Deadline is a Hollywood breaking news website and while it often publishes comic film stories, no one goes there for their comic book news so it’s interesting to read what people there are saying.

Yeah, you realize X-Men #1 in the 90s sold 1 million in one week right? 200,000 is not that impressive considering what is going on. I think you’ve been mislead Nikki. – jgroove

I haven’t bought comics in decades so maybe I’m not entitled to an opinion, but I think DC loses a ton of goodwill with this move. Action Comics had passed #900, and Detective Comics was way up there, too. This is a cynical sales gimmick aimed at collectors who immediately put their books in plastic bags and never read them (or better yet, buy *two* copies), hoping they’ll be worth something someday. There’s also been speculation that rebooting Superman has something to do with keeping money out of the Siegel and Shuster heirs’ pockets. – Jeffty

And from an MSNBC.com article:

some of my favorite childhood memories are about comics.But I wonder if kids today will want to read a comic book.I remember storylines over several issues. The last time I looked comics had very little reading left in them – dks1050

And then there’s these from a NY Times piece:

I’m not a comic book fan, but DC seems a bit desperate for something to revive their business. It’s easy to see why they’re envious of Marvel – Marvel has had more hit films in the last 2 years than DC has had in 2 decades. Marvel made two hit films about Iron Man, for crying out loud, a character who barely had any backstory. Meanwhile the last Superman movie wasn’t anything more than an average summer flick. At a deeper level, I have to wonder if the rebooting frenzy is a reflection of something deeper in society. With Congress’s approval rating around 15% for the last few years, incongruous and unsustainable wealth distribution, and an ever-more complicated and tenuous foreign policy situation, super heroes might not be the only ones hoping to do better if they just start over with a clean slate. – Steve Z.

I thought the comics companies jumped the shark decades ago. The characters died, but no, they sort of didn’t. They got married, but not really? Now they’re changing ethnicities or something or other. Isn’t reporting on comic books like reporting on soap operas? I’m sure the people who care didn’t read about it first in the NYT, and the rest of us don’t care. – Joe C.

The world doesn’t want superheroes anymore, not inanimate drawings of them on paper anyway. Now they want social relevance, politics, gender neutrality…there’s enough of that in real life. The soul of comics has been lost, along with the soul of our very culture. Sad. If I worked for DC I’d be looking at China, not the spoiled brat kids of the US who can’t live without electronic toys and media. – J Wolfe

Granted this is just a small segment of the more mainstream media sources but it’s funny to see how they are responding. I haven’t looking into responses from non-comic readers who actually picked up Justice League #1 yet but some of these comments make it appear as if that won’t be happening at all. What have you heard or seen from the non-comic reading public about the DC relaunch?

A few months ago we showed you a letter column from one Frank Miller about Amazing Spider-Man from 1977. Now, another letter to Marvel has surfaced, this time from A Song of Ice and Fire series author George R .R. Martin.

The image comes to us courtesy of Coheed and Cambria singer and comic creator Claudio Sanchez who tweeted it today. The letter, published in Avengers #12, was the fantasy author showing his profound love for Fantastic Four #32 and Avengers #9. “I have finally come to the decision to have both mounted in bronze and set on a pedestal in the center of my living room,” he wrote.

The issue of the Avengers was written by Stan Lee with art by Don Heck in 1964, both of whom Martin thought were extremely talented. “What a story! It was beyond words; the fast-paced action, solid characterization, and that terrific ending all gave it that extra oomph an catapulted it into the great class. Stan old boy, you can put another notch in your pen for this materpiece,” he wrote, “And that art! I’ve always like Don Heck’s work but on this occasion he outdid himself.”

And even though Martin enjoyed the issue of FF, he was very particular about which villains should and should not continue on in the series. “I feel that the only foes of the F.F. has worthy of becoming regulars are Namor, Doc Doom, the Hulk and the Rd Ghost. A few others, like the Hate Monger and the Molecule Man, were great in their first appearance but still not worthy of returns, as a comeback would destroy the effect of the first tale,” he wrote, “Some others like the Thinker, the Puppet Master, the Moleman and Diablo have definitely deserved eternal exile…please, whatever else you do, do not bring back these chaps.”

Come on, tell us how you really feel George! I love when these things surface. Martin was all of 16 when he wrote to the letter column, just one year before he won an Alley Award for ”Powerman vs. The Blue Barrier,” his own superhero story and 47 years before his series would be adapted to the HBO series Game of Thrones. With all his success maybe he did manage to bronze the issues. I’m betting not but I’m sure he still owns them, he’s a long-time Marvel fan and collector of Silver Age comics.

via Agent M Loves Tacos

You either love Angry Birds or you hate it. I’m pretty sure there’s no in between considering the addictive nature of the cell phone game. Like many other pop-culture phenomena, Angry Birds has been tinkered with to make it even more fun. I give you, the Angry Superheroes. And boy, are they angry…

A plethora of DC and Marvel characters (plus Judge Dredd!) have been transformed into their own unique Angry Bird forms thanks to Ryan, aka Senor Picante. On his blog, the artist has posted the above individually as well as one pig resembling Magneto. Although that one he wanted to rework so I decided not to post it here.

Ryan is not the first to add superhero flair to the Angry Birds, Ript Apparel sold a fantastic Batman and Robin spin on the famous game a few months back. That one was designed by SpiR and Seth. And let’s not forget the epic Angry Birds of Prey by the Gutters crew.

What do you think? Would you like to see a comic book themed Angry Birds? They already teamed up with the creators of the animated film Rio for an altered version of the game. I could easily see them making a deal with DC or Marvel. Are you listening Rovio?

The CW has found its Smallville follow-up. Creator of Supernatural, Eric Kripke, will be writing and producing a Deadman television series for them, currently in the developmental stage.

The series will be a drama says Deadline. Based on the character created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino in Strange Adventures #205, Deadman, aka Boston Brand is a former trapeze artist murdered during a performance and fated to continue on as a ghost. Deadman, who is starting in the upcoming arc of the new DC Universe Presents series starting in September, is given the “gift” to inhabit any living beings’ body thanks to the Hindu goddess Rama Kushna in order to help them solve crimes in their own lives.

“We’re looking next year to do a superhero show if the right superhero comes to be,” CW president Mark Pedowitz said at TCA last month, noting the advantage of having Time Warner-owned DC Comics in the family.

Back in September of 2009, it was reported that Guillermo Del Toro was producing a big-screen adaptation of the character for Warner Bros. but it would seem they changed their minds about which direction they wanted to go in.

Boston Brand has been the focal point of several recent DC events such as Blackest Night and Brightest Day. giving him the kind of spotlight he’s never had before. It’s an strange direction to go in after Smallville but maybe that’s why it will work. Deadman’s turned into a much more interesting character for me and I think his story will make for a cool show.

What are your thoughts?

Once a week I sift through the millions of Etsy listings to find the best in geek chic for Blog@ readers. Last week it was all about Vampire Hunting but this week we return to an old friend – The Doctor. A few months ago, at the start of Doctor Who Season 6, I did a special extended edition of Etsy Made Me Do It to celebrate one of my favorite shows. Well, the season being split in two (besides giving me an appropriate title) and starting this weekend gave me a fantastic excuse to show off more Doctor Who items! Enjoy!

I’m a big fan of the minimalist-poster-of-pop-culture-items movement so I was delighted to find this collection of Minimalist Doctor Who Canvas Posters. User geekasms has the set available for $100 or you can buy your favorite Doctor individually for $10 a piece.

The episode “Vincent and the Doctor” from season 5 was surely a memorable one, enough to inspire user horcruxesunlimited to create this Doctor Who Van Gogh Ornament. The hand-painted glass item depicts an image we see later in that same season of the TARDIS exploding, Van Gogh style. $10.

“The Fires of Pompeii” gave us our first look at Amy Pond, or should I say, actress Karen Gillan. It was her original appearance on the sci-fi series. Now you can recreate the look of her and her fellow sisters with these Doctor Who Sybilline Sisterhood eyes knit fingerless gloves. From user tinybully for $20.

One of the scariest villains to ever appear (or not appear) on Doctor Who were the Silence. With the Doctor Who Silence Amigurumi you can always keep your eye on one. This one’s from user SherbertLemonCrochet for $20 but there’s also slightly different version available from user AmyLDice for $25.

And finally, a piece of art I think is particularly beautiful, a Stained Glass Mini TARDIS. User GeekyGlass created this one and it can be yours for $25.

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!

You all know I had some strong thoughts over DC’s decision to take Barbara Gordon out of the chair and return her to Batgirl duty. Well, it’s long past due Babs had a chance to speak for herself. Here are her semi-sensored thoughts on the DC relaunch…

That’s comedy gold right there.

Barbara Gordon is really Teal Sherer. You may know her better as Venom, the vicious video game vixen from Felicia Day’s web series The Guild. Sherer, like Oracle, is a paraplegic, having broken her spine in a car accident when she was fourteen. So as you can imagine, just like I do, she has a very strong connection to the DC comics character and also like the character and myself, Sherer doesn’t let her disability get in her way. Or stop her from making hilarious videos.

Check out the trailer for Sherer’s “My Gimpy Life,” which premiered at the ITV Festival earlier this month.

Doctor Who fans are eagerly awaiting this Saturday’s return of the hit show on BBC America with the episode titled “Let’s Kill Hitler,” not to mention the return of the 11th Doctor Matt Smith. Until then, you can check out his adventures in the Doctor Who Annual from IDW, in stores today, with an all-star line-up of creators. Newsarama spoke with one of them about his work and got an exclusive sneak peek at some preview art from an upcoming arc!

As I mentioned, the Doctor Who Annual 2011 features the Eleventh Doctor in his first-ever Annual adventure. The  issue is oversized at 48 pages and contains three full stories as well as a prologue to the next arc by writer Tony Lee and artist Josh Adams.

The next arc of IDW’s Doctor Who, by Lee and Adams, starts with issue #9, set to be released September 28. It just so happens that’s the same day Adams’ famous father, Neal Adams’ New Avengers #16.1 comes out. “When I finally got to read the annual top to bottom, I felt like not only was every creator excited about the content but were really trying to out do each other and I think when you read it you’ll really get the benefit of all that passion,” artist Josh Adams told Newsarama.

“My part in the annual is really a prologue to issue #9 and yet when you read it, you realize it’s like anything Time Lord related; so much bigger on the inside,” said Adams, “Detectives, aliens, talking dinosaur, giant squids, Native American Indians and egg whisks! Of course, if you think that’s something, issue #9 has so much more.”

The artist said he worked through Independence Day weekend as well as Comic-Con week in order to meet the tight deadlines for the book but couldn’t be happier with the results. “Tony Lee has been creating amazing stories in the IDW series, quite in step with the content Steven Moffat produces for the television series and for the scripts I got to draw, he really gave me the kinds of juicy details that you could only wish to see on the show.”

This isn’t just a job for Adams, it’s also a joy. He’s a big fan of the long-running British TV show. “My apartment is jam packed with all sorts of  ’geek’ goodies but take one look and it’s clear that Doctor Who really rules over all,” he told us. “So getting to work on the comic and adding my name not just to the great list of talents who have done the comics but who have created nearly fifty years of amazing sci-fi history just means the world to me.”

The Doctor Who Annual 2011 also features stories by Echoes writer Joshua Hale Fialkov and artist Blair Shedd, Doctor Who Magazine writer/artist Dan McDaid, and writer Matthew Dow Smith and artist Mitch Gerads. The cover features an illustrated Doctor by each of the artists involved, Adams’ is the one standing at the bottom.

“I really enjoy being able to tell stories that a whole family can enjoy while not being to broad or oversimplified and Doctor Who is a series that really takes that sentiment to heart,” he said.

A lot of our favorite DC superheroes got significant makeovers to go with the big relaunch happening in two weeks. Here are a few designs that didn’t make the cut and god help me, I can’t imagine why.

You wanted pants, you got ‘em!

It’s to draw attention away from the underwear on the outside.

Poor Arthur, can’t catch a break. But he can catch fish!

Now this one I can get behind. If nothing else, it evens out the skin quota between the guys and gals of the DCnU.

The designs of course, are not real, but come via Caldwell Tanner of CollegeHumor.com. He’s been churning out some amazing superhero-themed strips lately for the website. Tanner also includes some Marvel characters in his redesign post. My favorite was his X-Men: First Class crack. So true.

Geek hosts Blair Herter and Jessica Chobot took their relationship to the next step over the weekend and got engaged with a little help from Wonder Woman and Jim Lee.

The pair simultaneously made the announcement via their Twitter feeds with Herter tweeting, “In a lifetime of affirmation, this was the best “Yes” I’ve heard. Luckiest guy alive.” With his statement, the X-Play host also posted this picture…

Herter, knowing his girlfriend was a huge Wonder Woman fan, had DC artist and co-publisher Jim Lee create this piece specifically to ask for her hand in marriage. Chobot retweeted the picture with this note, “YES!!!!! @blairherter and a ginormous thank you to @JimLee00 for the incredible art! We’ll treasure it always!” And Herter echoed her sentiments on the one-of-a-kind piece, “Massive massive thanks to @jimlee00 for the art. It will always be our most treasured piece.”

The IGN Strategize host then tweeted a picture of her unique engagement ring.

As you can see, the ring is Wonder Woman inspired, and was designed by Herter himself according to Chobot. You can see the lasso/star detail on the left but I can’t quite make out the details on the other side. Either way, it’s gorgeous.

No word on whether or not the proposal was a surprise but Chobot’s last tweet before the announcement was that her and Herter were going on a mini-vacation to San Diego for “sunshine and tattoos,” so it may well have been. Herter thanked everyone for their heartfelt congratulations on the engagement and said, “I promise our future Intergalactic Space Ninja offspring will protect your families against the robots.”

Congratulations to Herter and Chobot and here’s to a comic-themed wedding!

Joss Whedon’s The Avengers is still busy filming in Cleveland and as expected, more footage and images have surfaced. These feature stars Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans in action.

The picture comes once again from ComicBookMovie.com and shows Thor and Captain America not only in their costumes but in a dirty fight. (The site has several other shots posted, some more spoiler-y than others.) Thor’s costume looks roughly the same from the one he wore in his solo film but the biggest complaint about Captain America’s new costume in the first image we showed you from the set was the characters helmet. Interesting that it’s not on during the fight, when he’d need it the most. Of course, he does look pretty roughed up so it could have flown off at some point.

The video, via the Huffington Post, is basically the images in motion. I won’t say too much but it’s a fight scene with villains so watch at your own risk. (There’s also an aerial view of another take on their website.)

What do you think of the footage (if you watched)? And what do you think of footage from The Avengers as well as several videos from the set of The Dark Knight Rises surfacing online like this so far away from the release date of both films?

The Avengers, starring Hemsworth, Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlet Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo and more hits theaters May of 2012.

The young actress chosen to play Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Dark Knight Rises may enjoy playing the role but that doesn’t mean wearing the costume is easy.

The Hollywood Reporter posted a video of Hathway from an appearance on Chelsea Lately (although the video isn’t working for me) recently where she discussed her fitness regimen. ”I’m like living on kale and dust for training,” Hathaway told the late night host. “The catsuit’s unforgiving, man.”

Every woman who’s worn the Catwoman costume knows that but Hathaway also mentioned that it takes a lot of motivation just to get into it every day. “It takes three of us, and the movie shoots a little over six months. It’s not just focus my efforts for one day, I have to really get into it,” she said.

Though it sounds like she’s having a tough time, the actress did say she’s now enjoying her workouts to stay in shape for the skin-tight role. ”The last time we talked about how much I really don’t like working out, and I’ve kind of fallen… I really like it now. Ugh, I’m that person, like I came to L.A., got a bikini wax, went blonde and love working out!”

When host Chelsea Handler asked if she’d given up alcohol for the role Hathaway said, “I gotta have a little fun. My character is [bad], so if I were perfectly behaved, I wouldn’t be honoring her.”

Hathaway has also been recieving extra attention from the paparazzi thanks to the high-profile role. She rapped about it on Conan. Seriously, watch it:

Once a week I sift through the millions of Etsy listings to find the best in geek chic for Blog@ readers. I showcased some fancy Catwoman art last week in honor of the reveal of Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises. This week the remake of Fright Night hits theaters and instead of using this as an excuse to search for David Tennant related items on Etsy, I chose to stick with the film’s theme of hunting vampires.

You won’t see the Boys and Girl Scouts of America handing out this merit badge. And that’s exactly why you need it. User StoriedThreads will help you inform everyone of your accomplishment with this Vampire Hunter Patch. Measures three inches and runs $7.  (more…)

You’ve seen Captain America come to life on the big screen thanks to director Joe Johnson and actor Chris Evans but that was a period piece. How will Cap look in modern times in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers film? Now we know.

Celebrity-Gossip.net captured pictures of the actor on set in Cleveland, Ohio recently where The Avengers has been filming. “The Captain America hunk donned a pair of sunglasses along with a black cloak as he shot scenes on the mock 42nd Street set,” they wrote. But of course, he did eventually have to take them off to shoot and that’s how we get our first look. Three more shots after the jump! (more…)

Dear DC, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now what with the relaunch next month and all but if you could spare a few of your staff to help make Katie Cook’s Batman a reality, you’d make a lot of people happy. Myself included.

Last night, Cook was having some fun on Twitter (as comic creators have a tendency to do when they aren’t arguing with each other) and came up with a delightful scenario for our favorite Dark Knight (out of continuity of course) including a few quick doodles. If you don’t know Katie Cook, you should. Her webcomic, Gronk, is outstanding and everything else she does is just as wonderful. (Check out her website for more.) Here is the mostly unedited stream of thoughts that started here.

I have an idea for a batman story in which batman actually thinks he’s a bat. Alfred follows him around saying “yes, master bat”.

@MarkBrooksArt the best part is that he thinks when people say he’s “batty” it’s a compliment.

In my batman, joker is a normal clown and, in bats delusional mind, he’s a villain. Joker is terrified of him.

In my batman, the scarecrow is an ACTUAL scarecrow…. Out in a field…. On a stick.

The penguin is a fat penguin at the Gotham zoo… Bats is just convinced it’s out to get him.

In my batman, the riddler is a tattered old “choose your own adventure” book that bats is afraid to finish.

Poison ivy is a potted plant in his kitchen…

The only REAL villain is Alfred… Who embezzles BILLIONS from his delusional ward.

YES RT @dreamingtree: @katiecandraw Catwoman is his cat?

It’s a hat rack covered in hats @Hat_Girl: @katiecandraw What about the Mad Hatter?

@RaphaelWent clayface is a playdoh Fun -set.

a luchador on tv RT @vilify_xx: @katiecandraw What about Bane?

Its the name of an ethnic restaurant that bats gets take out from all the time RT @thatjarrodwelsh: @katiecandraw And what of Ra’s al Ghul?

If you like my batman idea, you’ll love my deadpool story… But I’ll save that for another day.

Make. It. Happen.

When last we heard about the ongoing Jack Kirby Estate vs. Disney/Marvel lawsuit, the company had won summary judgements against the estate and appeals were being planned. Today, the estate filed an official notice of appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal.

“We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and intend to appeal this matter to the Second Circuit,” the estate’s lawyer Marc Toberoff told The Hollywood Reporter. “Sometimes you have to lose in order to win.”

With the suit, the Kirby Estate is attempting to terminate early copyright grants of more than 45 characters including Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, The Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, The Silver Surfer and Thor . According to THR, the estate sent notices to Marvel not just Marvel but its licensees Sony (Spider-Man), Fox (X-Men), Universal and others.

“Marvel then sued in New York federal court claiming Kirby’s creations were ‘works for hire’ and thus not subject to termination,” wrote THR. “The two sides filed summary judgment motions, and last month the circuit court sided with Marvel, ruling that Kirby created the characters as works for hire.”

Deadline added, “Normally these kinds of lawsuits are run of the mill for Hollywood. But not when they’re litigated by Toberoff, who is the bane of Big Media studios because he has a winning track record.” Needless to say, a win for the Kirby Estate here could potentially impact the Marvel brand irreparably.

The BBC had an immediate hit on its hands when Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss modernized the literary classic Sherlock Holmes with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. But with only three episodes in the first season and an intense cliffhanger, fans were extremely eager for more. Gatiss is finally giving us a few teasers.

Speaking at the “Empire Presents…Big Screen” event in the UK this weekend, Sherlock creator/writer Gatkiss said shooting on season 2 was just over a week away. ”Season two is what we’re calling ‘The Woman, The Hound and The Fall’ trilogy,” he told the audience, “so there’ll be a version of ‘A Scandal In Bohemia’, a version of ‘The Hound Of The Baskervilles’ and a version of ‘The Final Problem.’”

“It’s a rare chance to do the early days of Holmes and Watson’s friendship, right from the beginning, so everything you know has not yet formed. Sherlock’s attitude to women and to crime is still forming, so it’s much more ‘plastic,’” said Gatiss. “The only heresy [about the show] is that it’s modern day, but after that it’s one of the most faithful versions there’s ever been, because Stephen [Moffat] and I just love it. Sherlock Holmes had become all about the hansom cabs and the fog, rather than about the friendship of this unlikely couple, but ours is very much inspired by the Basil Rathbone’s version.”

When asked the question of whether or not we’d be seeing Holmes’ nemesis Professor Moriarty in the new season, Gatiss wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Wait and see!” he laughed. So is that a ‘yes’? “It’s a nnn-yes,” he said.

The Season 2 airdate of Sherlock is still under wraps.

Jason Todd may not be too worried about what his nether regions look like in costume but actor Andrew Garfield certainly gave it a lot of thought when he took on the role of Spider-Man in Marvel’s latest film.

It seems with great package comes great responsibility when talking about how to deal with the male crotch in superhero film. Entertainment Weekly (who were the ones who brought the actor’s parts up at Comic-Con) writes, “When asked if there were long conversations about whether to err on the side of being too Ken-doll androgynous vs. too bulbously revealing (especially since the film is in 3-D!), Garfield laughed and blushed.”

“Um, yeah, there are long discussions about this stuff,” Garfield said. “There has to be because it’s got to be handled with sensitivity. It has to be non-offensive, which takes some tools.”

Garfield told THR that he and director Marc Webb were cautious about this. ”I don’t think it should be the main attraction of the costume.” he said. “I don’t think it should be what people are focusing on.”

Besides dealing with his Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Wang, Garfield wanted to focus on how to actually move in the costume. For this, he studied of Muhammad Ali and soccer star Ronaldo, as well as the 2008 documentary Man on Wire. “The non-fiction account of tight-rope walker/daredevil Philippe Petit, who snuck up to the top of New York’s World Trade Center in 1974 and crossed on a rope from one building to the other,” wrote THR.

“Man on Wire was something I wanted to capture in playing Spider-Man,” said Garfield. “The feeling that it gave me of this human being giving something so spectacular and hopeful and magical to a mass of people for nothing other than generosity.”

The Amazing Spider-Man (and his Spider-Wang) swing into theaters July 3, 2012.