Who says you can keep an old assassin down?

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that steps are being taken to make a film sequel to the movie RED, based on the comic from Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner.

Erich and Jon Hoeber, who wrote the original film’s script, have been tapped for a second film. That said, the movie has NOT been greenlit yet, and the producers still don’t have the original director or cast (Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren or John Malkovich) signed on for a second movie.

Still, the idea that this Wildstorm book inspired a Golden Globe-nominated movie, and raked in $90 million domestically? Not too shabby! Let the reloading begin.

Yo, prospective comics artists? Looking for some advice from the best of the best?

Well, Comics Experience has an offer for you — how’d you like to get critiqued by John Romita Jr.? Yessir, the artist of Avengers is going to be doing a guest critique for the group’s Creator Workshop — and as they say, that critique could be you.

What do you have to do to be in the running for the lucky critique? Submit your artwork to the Creators Workshop before January 22. The workshop meets online on the fourth Thursday of the month at 9pm EST for $29.99 a month, or $149.95 for six months.

For those who don’t know about Comics Experience, it’s a comics education course taught by IDW editor Andy Schmidt, with instructors ranging from former Marvel editor John Barber, G.I. Joe penciller Robert Atkins, colorist supreme Chris Sotomayor and a lot more. Want more info? Email info@comicsexperience.com.

Check it, Rama readers — Vertigo has announced that that long-lost masterpiece of Grant Morrison’s, Flex Mentallo, will finally be available again in 2011.

The book, drawn by Frank Quitely, was a spinoff of Morrison’s subversive run on Doom Patrol. But due to legal issues stemming from the similarities of the lead character to comic book bodybuilding icon Charles Atlas, the run quickly became a hot commodity; never reprinted or collected.

According to Graphic Content, the collected edition — a “beautiful Deluxe Edition hardcover with bonus material” — will be out sometime this fall. What say you, Rama readers? You excited to see this story finally brought back to the public eye?

BOOM! Studios has announced a couple of big names to join their publishing ranks — including a change-up to one of their Stan Lee superhero titles.

To start off with, in May, the publisher will begin releasing Michael Moorcock’s Elric: The Balance Lost. Moorcock, who has been attributed as a major influence for writers such as Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis, said in a press statement that “Elric is in inspired hands.” Chris Roberson — writer of Superman, Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, as well as Starborn and Dust to Dust from BOOM! — will be writing the series.

Meanwhile, in another bit of news, it looks like Soldier Zero is getting a switch-up in its creative team, with Paul Cornell bowing off the book in Issue #5 and making way for Marvel Cosmic enthusiasts Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

“Paul’s simply a splendid fellow,” the duo said in a press statement. “We are delighted to be following in his footsteps on Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero. Paul generously shared his plans and ideas for where he saw the story going, and they are, as you might expect, far too good not to keep, but we’re also bringing lots of new stuff into the mix. Soldier Zero fans will not be disappointed!”

What do you think about this, Rama readers? You think DnA’s inclusion will make for a smooth transition, or do you think it’s a little too soon for a change in writer? What do you think about Michael Moorcock’s Elric finding a new home? Sound off!

Wanna get a glimpse of the Thor flick? Yahoo has just posted the trailer!

What sayest thou? Is this trailer worthy? Or does it need some time to stew and think upon what its done? Sound off!

Viva Los Angeles! At least, as far as DC Online is concerned.

Ron Perazza, DC’s VP of creative services, has the scoop, as he announced on Twitter today that he had accepted the title of VP of Online for DC Entertainment.

Perazza also confirmed that DC Online would move to Burbank next summer.

Shortly thereafter, Zuda veteran Kwanza Johnson also announced via Twitter that he would be Digital Editor for DC Entertainment, and “will see you out in LA.”

Stay tuned for more information as it arrives…

While many in the mainstream entertainment press have been mourning the loss of Leslie Nielsen — who starred in Superhero Movie in one of his last mainstream roles — a geek icon has also passed this morning.

Irvin Kershner, director of The Empire Strikes Back, died this morning after a long illness at the age of 87, according to Empire. He had been struggling with “a long illness,” which was not further elaborated upon.

In addition to Empire Strikes Back, Kershner also directed the James Bond film Never Say Never Again and Robocop 2.

Kershner’s contributions to the pop culture landscape are not always recognized, so give the man a moment of silence while you watch this bit of Star Wars history in the making:

So you’ve seen the Entertainment Tonight teaser. Well, how about the real deal trailer?

io9 has posted a full-length version of the Green Lantern trailer (albeit with Spanish subtitles). Here we get to see Abin Sur, Sinestro, Kilowog… well, what do you think??

EDIT: Now without subtitles! Also, if/when that gets taken down from YouTube, here’s the official Apple link.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

…

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I know this sounds eerily familiar to what I said about Incredible Hercules shuffling off this mortal coil. Well, it seems like the most likely successor to this fantasy-gone-hilarious series — Thor: The Mighty Avenger — is ending at Issue #8.

Mighty Avenger? It was mighty entertaining. If you didn’t read the issue about Thor walking into a bar and beating the kidney pie out of Captain Britain, you missed out on one of the best single issues of the year.

Nate Cosby, who edited the book, sounded the dread alarm on Twitter this evening. Jeff Parker, meanwhile, will successfully (and jokingly) make you feel bad about not reading (and LOVING) this hilarious, hilarious book. Meanwhile, I will be out pouring a 40 for Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee, for a book that was taken from us much, much too soon…

Curious about Ryan Reynolds? Curious about that CG costume?

Then check this out for size — the Daily BLAM has an early promo from Entertainment Tonight, with the Green Lantern suit, Kilowog, Carol Ferris, and a whole lot more:

What say you, Rama readers? You dig what you see? Think Hal’s ready for the big screen? Or do you feel GL is running low on energy? Sound off!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a title.

Christopher Nolan has announced that his third Batman film will be called The Dark Knight Rises, according to an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones,” Nolan said in the interview, adding that the villain “won’t be the Riddler.” Hmm… curiouser and curiouser, right?

The movie is due out in July 20, 2012, which may put it on the tail end of the Avengers film, due out on May 4 of the same year.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I mean, erm, let me regain my composure a little bit.

Fred Van Lente has a post up on Twitter that might make you sad: “Just typed “So Ends the Eighth & Final Volume of THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES” in me & Greg’s outline. Sigh. Thanks, all you readers, thank you.” He later reminded readers that that eighth volume is the current event storyline, Chaos War.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The Incredible Hercules has been, bar-none, one of the most fun books that Marvel has printed in years, following an unlikely spin-off to Greg Pak’s World War Hulk saga. With the Incredible Hulk title suddenly (inexplicably?) becoming INCREDIBLE HERCULES, the story teamed up the great goofy Greek powerhouse with Amadeus Cho, a super-smart teen subversive sidekick. So successful was Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak’s launch that they’ve even spun off their own Marvel event, called Chaos War.

According to Van Lente, the series was “always intended for 8 [volumes],” but at the same time, I think the sense of humor and charm generated by this book has always made iHerc an important star in the Marvel publishing constellation. Will Marvel — CAN Marvel — take the epic writing team of Pak and Van Lente apart? Here’s hoping that the duo sticks together and continues working their magic elsewhere in the Marvel Universe.

BOOM! Studios’ marketing director Chip Mosher and marketing assistant Ivan Salazar clearly weren’t content to sit in the office when Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero hit the stands — so instead, they hopped in Chip’s car and proceeded to hit up several comic shops throughout southern California.

If you check out BOOM!’s YouTube page, you’ll see clips from Earth-2 Comics in both Northridge (seen above) and Sherman Oaks, Collector’s Paradise in Orange County, Beach Ball Comics in Anaheim, as well as Mosher alluding to manic driving stemming from his secret love of Justin Beiber.

Soldier Zero, written by Paul Cornell and drawn by Javier Pina, is the story of Stewart Trautmann, a former military man coping with paralysis after a close encounter with an IED. Trautmann already has a difficult enough time dealing with the trip home when he is bonded to an alien suit with some serious interstellar weapons capacity. For more information on the series, check out our interview with Cornell!

Ugh. This is one of those stories that makes you sick to your stomach.

The story began in Rochester, N.Y., this summer, as comic collector Homer Marciniak was trying to sell his comic book collection. It was valued at anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000, according to reports from the Associated Press.

The problem was that Marciniak told that to tavern owner Rico Vendetti — and was subsequently beaten and robbed in his apartment. While Marciniak, a 77-year-old bachelor, survived the incident, he had a heart condition that manifested into cardiac arrest later that night after talking with police.

Not only were all of his comics stolen, but things get even more sad — Marciniak apparently was trying to sell his books to give the money to his sister and nephew. The books haven’t even been recovered yet.

Apparently this week, however, a woman charged with prostitution led police to Vendetti and 17-year-old Juan Javier, who were each charged with burglary. Both were charged with $100,000 bail — Vendetti has since ponied up the cash, while Javier is currently in jail.

Police still are searching for the missing comics. “I was hoping to get a lucky break for Homer,” Medina Police Chief Jose Avila said. “He could not handle losing those comic books. To him, they were priceless.”

He’s been on the shortlist for Preacher and, until Zack Snyder took the reins, Superman, but Vulture is reporting that Requiem for a Dream’s Darren Aronofsky has been offered a directing post for Wolverine 2.

Aronofsky has worked with Wolverine star Hugh Jackman previously in the film The Fountain. But seeing Vulture’s rationale is particularly interesting — they’re suggesting that he was bumped off the Superman film in part because of his reputation for perfectionism. Here’s an interesting tidbit:

We’re told by knowledgeable insiders the reason Warner Bros. picked Snyder for Man of Steel is that the script by David Goyer was rushed, is still a bit of a mess, and that Warner Bros. needs someone who won’t spend months or even years trying to get it just right (i.e., Aronofsky), because time is the one thing they don’t have: The studio must have a new Superman movie in production by 2011 or they’ll be subject to potential lawsuits by the heirs of the superhero’s creators.

Now, there’s been a little bit of chatter amongst the blogosphere about the high concept of the new Superman film — “Clark Kent is a journalist traveling the world trying to decide if he should, in fact, even become Superman,” according to Vulture — but if it ends up being like Superman: Birthright, having a little bit of doubt is all right… if he’s got the costume.

But back to Wolverine 2 a second. I’m curious to see how Aronofsky, a director with his own quirks and visual signature, will handle a “mainstream” actioner like Wolverine 2, particularly after Tsotsi director Gavin Hood couldn’t quite stick the landing with critics. The film allegedly will have Wolverine travelling to Japan.

Want to help a creator in need, Rama readers? Here’s your chance.

Steve Rude, creator of Nexus, is in a bind — he’s in danger of losing his house, which will go up for auction on November 15. If you want to help the guy out, there’s a great win-win opportunity for people: He’s selling artwork!

“I was trying not to say anything,” Rude wrote on Facebook. “Nobody likes to hear bad news, but with the last 2 weeks of auctions being near a bust I didn’t see an option. I’ll be working on commissions all this week and will take more once the list dwindles down a bit.”

Anyone who’s a fan of great comics art should definitely be giving Rude’s auction a look. You can take a look at some of what he’s selling here and here.

Superman may be taking a crucial step towards liftoff, as helmer Chris Nolan has reportedly narrowed down his directorial options to a select few.

Deadline has reported that Nolan is looking at five directors to spearhead the film, including: Zack Snyder, of 300 and Watchmen fame; Moon director Duncan Jones; Cloverfield and Let Me In’s Matt Reeves; Tony Scott, director of Top Gun and Enemy of the State; and Jonathan Liebesman, who worked on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot.

That said, the report also says that this list isn’t rock-solid just yet, as many of these directors may have scheduling conflicts that would knock them out of the running. /Film has a cool reaction piece to all of this,  weighing the pros and cons of each director (and only snubbing Scott).

Me, I’d go with Jones — if you’re looking for an Iron Man-style success, you need to be able to give the movie its own voice, and Moon had that in spades. That said, if the script is any good, don’t you think Snyder would be a sure-bet, with his visually-striking style? Let’s duke it out, Rama readers, what say you?

By Filip Sablik
Publisher, Top Cow Productions, Inc.

It’s Autumn again. Where did 2010 go, friends? Seriously it seems like only yesterday I was playing video poker at the Hard Rock Café Casino to finish out 2009. I swear it was only minutes ago I was finalizing plans for San Diego Comic-Con and feeling the cold sweat inducing panic of hard printing deadlines rushing headlong at my deer-in-the-headlights expression.

Autumn 2010 means cooler weather (for you poor suckers who live in four seasons), mid-term elections, the return of pumpkin as the flavor-du-jour on everything from your latte to your ice cream, and a new crop of TV pilots hoping for at least one good season in the sun. For us at Top Cow it also means its time for a new crop of Pilot Season comics.

This year we have five different new concepts by five unique creative teams. A mix of season pros and wet-behind-the-ears newcomers fighting for your attention and trying to create something you haven’t seen before. So much of the comics released in recent years have been about nostalgia. I get it. Nostalgia is a warm blanket, a comforting hot cup of cocoa. It reminds us of better, bygone days in troubled times. We know what we’re going to get and what to expect. But I’m here to challenge you take a chance on the new. Stretch past your comfort zone and reach to discover a different genre or an undiscovered creator.

On Wednesday, Pilot Season: 39 Minutes #1 hit stands. It’s by Impaler writer and creator William Harms, who is a seriously under-exposed talent. Harms hits you hard with a twist on a classic genre – the bank heist. A group of bank robbers is hitting small towns in the Midwest and pulling off daring bank heists by treating each job like a military mission. Meanwhile, John Clayton is rotting in Leavenworth for killing a group of military contractors in a friendly fire incident in Iraq. Clayton’s approached by a government agent who tells him they believe the bank robbers are men previously under Clayton’s command. Bank robberies, rocket launchers, and a story about what our brave men and women go through overseas. That’s an original combo. The art team of newcomer Jerry Lando and veterans Jay Leisten and Brian Buccellato is pretty darn compelling too. Check it out; you won’t be able to miss the striking Rafael Albuquerque cover.

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By Julie Opipari

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit is a thought-provoking series set in a dystopian Japan, where one in a thousand citizens is chosen by lottery to die. Upon entering elementary school, all citizens are forced to take part in the National Welfare Immunization. A nanocapsule is injected into each child, and one lucky recipient out of every one thousand will die between the ages of 18 and 25. Sounds like a great place to live, huh?

The reason for this death by lottery is to instill a fear of death in everyone, so that they value life more. It also helps to keep the peace, because anyone who speaks out against the National Welfare Act is branded a social miscreant, and bad, bad things happen to them. They are brainwashed or injected with a nanocapsule themselves. What a wonderful way to scare the crap out of the populace and keep them in line!

The series is told through episodic chapters that follow the lucky recipients of the ikigami, or death papers. There are a few reoccurring characters, the most important being Fujimoto. Fujimoto is a delivery man by trade; it’s his job to deliver the ikigami to those citizens who have been injected with the death capsules. He can only deliver the papers 24 hours prior to the scheduled time of death, and his job quickly begins to take a toll on him. Think about it – how could you keep getting up and heading to the office if you knew that you would be telling some young person that they were going to die within 24 hours? Ugh! I wouldn’t just hate Mondays. I would pretty much hate every day I had to do that.

At the start of the series, Fujimoto is idealistic and eager to contribute to society. As each day goes by, however, he begins to develop very dangerous thoughts. He begins to question the National Welfare Act, and begins to wonder what good it really does. Nobody is happier, the crime rate hasn’t decreased, and nothing much has changed. The only difference is that some young people, who haven’t had a chance to live life or make their dreams come true, are dying. That’s it.

I don’t usually like series that are presented in such an episodic manner, but the stories about the individuals who receive the ikigamis are full of emotion and suspense. I always wonder how they are going to react, because I know how I would feel if I were to receive one. It would not be a happy day in my life, and I wouldn’t be grateful for serving the government. A death shouldn’t benefit anyone, especially not the repressive government depicted in this series.

In addition to the tense vignettes, the art makes this series shine. Motoro Mase is master of capturing facial expressions. The illustrations give the emotional depth necessary to make this such a compelling series. Shock, anger, dismay, fear. There is a gamut of emotions that surges through each page of this comic, and you can’t help but get caught up in the rush of feelings.

Clocking in at 7 volumes, the series isn’t overwhelmingly long. The books are part of Viz’s Signature line, which means that they have a larger trim size and each volume weighs in at about 230 pages. The books are attractively put together, and the dialog flows naturally and just sucks you into each volume. If you are looking for an intelligent read that will give you something to think about, this might be just what you are looking for.

When Julie Opipari isn’t mucking around the barn, she can be found trying to make a dent in the massive pile of manga that keeps following her home from the bookstore.  Not wiling to admit she has a problem, she blissfully continues to anticipate the latest releases despite the cries of agony from her credit card.  She cheerfully blames her addiction on the stresses of college and post traumatic work disorder, and is grateful that her family grumbles only occasionally about the amount of time she spends buried in her books. In addition to reading Your Manga Minute every Wednesday, you can read more of Julie’s work on her blog, Manga Maniac Cafe.

It’s nothing to shrug at — Atlas Comics is coming back to publishing.

Deadline has posted an article up, stating that Jason Goodman — grandson of Atlas founder Martin Goodman, who also founded Marvel Comics — is relaunching the company.

The first two titles, The Grim Ghost and Phoenix, will be revealed at the New York Comic-Con. Other properties owned by the company include the Grim Ghost, Ironjaw and the Cougar. Already, a firm called Reaction Visual Media has posted a cover for The Grim Ghost, which will be written by Joshua Ortega with art by Qing Ping Mui. UPDATE: Atlas has stated that the credits listed by Reaction are incorrect, and updated credits are still being worked out.

“Although my grandfather eventually sold Marvel, he insisted on keeping Atlas Comics in the family,” the younger Goodman told Deadline. “As a result of his vision, Atlas Comics is the largest individually-held library of comic book heroes and villains on the planet. We have 28 titles and hundreds of characters imagined by some of the greatest minds in the industry.”

Ardeen Entertainment’s Brendan Deneen is also backing the relaunch, and writer J.M. DeMatteis will be the company’s new editor-in-chief.

UPDATE II: DeMatteis gave a quick comment to Newsarama, clarifying his role within the Ardeen and Atlas spheres. An extreme hat tip to Zack Smith and Lan Pitts for the quote:

One thing I’d love to clear up: the way the story morphed in the press it looks like a) we’re in the midst of a full-out Atlas revival and b) I’m the editor-in-chief of a reborn Atlas comics. That’s not the way it is. I’m EIC of Ardden Entertainment — we’ve recently relaunched both FLASH GORDON and CASPER (as CASPER AND THE SPECTRALS). Ardden is working with the Atlas license holders (sort of like a co-production between two film studios) to bring two titles out: GRIM GHOST and PHOENIX. That’s it for now. Two titles to test the waters. If they do well—and everyone hopes they do—there will, naturally, be more.

Stay tuned to the Newsarama Mothership for more details as they unfold!