After reports of lower than average comic sales last August and reading of the blame being placed on the $3.99 price point, THE SIXTH GUN series creators Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt came to a decision: twelve extra pages at no additional cost. For the sixth issue of their new ongoing series THE SIXTH GUN, Bunn & Hurtt are adding twelve full pages of gun-slinging goodness, and they're enlisting the help of comic superstar colorist Bill Crabtree (INVINCIBLE, JACK STAFF).

“Having a colorist as accomplished as Bill [Crabtree] join the book was a no-brainer,” commented series writer and co-creator Cullen Bunn. “Initially we were going to have Bill start with issue #7, it's the beginning of a new arc and it just made sense, but Brian [Hurtt] had been plugging away at issue #6, and we started having the dreaded conversations of what to cut in order to keep the book's page-count down. When we saw the August numbers and read the reports, it just occurred to us: Why should we sacrifice the culmination of this great story and all our hard work? The fans have been waiting for the climatic final battle; let's give it to them!”

“I've penciled, inked, colored and lettered every issue and we've never missed a ship date on THE SIXTH GUN,” added series artist and co-creator Brian Hurtt. “but adding an additional twelve pages of story to a twenty-two page book for the final issue in this story arc is no small feat, and after six months of hard work, we're not about to start missing deadlines now! We told Bill our idea for an oversized issue #6 and asked if he'd start in on THE SIXTH GUN early.”

“I couldn't wait to get started,” said new series colorist Bill Crabtree. “I love THE SIXTH GUN! Getting to play in this universe with these characters and settings is a real pleasure. Cullen, Brian, and the folks at Oni are so passionate about the book. I'm really excited about the new arc and the oversized finale in issue #6.”

For the rest of the press release, please check behind the cut

Read more »

It's not secret that Isaiah Mustafa is a huge nerd. Most of you know him as the Old Spice Guy, but in the fan community he's known as "one of us." He dressed up as Cloak and Dagger for Comic Con, he's on chuck, and we all want him to be Luke Cage in the Avengers.

So Marvel said ok, and made him Luke Cage in the latest Marvel What The-? Look up. Now look down. Wait, no look back up for the video. Enjoy.

I'm on a horse.

I don't normally say this, but I feel like it's pretty safe to say here: the comic output this week was pretty putrid. I only bought 8 books (I know - only), which has to be my smallest stack of the year. Not only that, but the majority of the books I purchased were not exactly high on my level of excitement. Still, it's an interesting blend at least, if only because of how atypical it is.

0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 - 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 - 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 - 3.9: You'd be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 - 4.9: "I'll give it another month...but that was not good."
5.0 - 5.9: "Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun."
6.0 - 6.9: "Hmm. That was decent."
7.0 - 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 - 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 - 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender

This week my reviews include Wonder Woman #603, Secret Warriors #20, and Action Comics #893 . A shocking mix, if only because it includes more DC superhero books than anything else. Obviously I was drunk at the comic store once again.

Read more »

Our boy Brian K. Vaughan has been awfully quiet after the end of Ex-Machina, with no comic projects on the pathway and just...not a whole lot else going on. But according to Deadline Hollywood (via ComicsAlliance) it looks like BKV will be making a return, but one to the world of Television.

Having previously been a staff writer for Lost, BKV will return with "Smokers," a production by Sam Raimi's Stars Road Entertainment. This series was created by BKV and is "about a documentary crew following working class heroes who exterminate alien threats in deep space."

Whether or not this will actually be produced is uncertain, but I can say that concept sounds awesome. Here's hoping it comes to fruition, as any BKV is better than no BKV.

I've gotten rather comfortable with my previous openings for these posts, so here: have a cat video.

0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 - 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 - 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 - 3.9: You'd be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 - 4.9: "I'll give it another month...but that was not good."
5.0 - 5.9: "Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun."
6.0 - 6.9: "Hmm. That was decent."
7.0 - 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 - 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 - 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender

This week my reviews include Atlas #5, Crossed: Family Values #4, Valkyrie, and . A different mix this week, with some new titles I love and some not so new titles I've been rather hard on.

Check out all the reviews after the jump.

Read more »

Written by Zack Whedon with art by Andy MacDonald.

After the shocking events he witnessed in humanity's future, Kyle Reese has made the history-changing jump from the year 2029 to a world previously beyond his imagining-1984 Los Angeles.

It's a time before the war, before Skynet, but not without danger, as Kyle begins his mission to find and protect Sarah Connor from time traveling T--800s. Close behind is Kyle's friend Ben, with a crucial mission of his own. Hot off the critically--acclaimed Terminator: 2029, Zack Whedon and Andy MacDonald begin the next chapter of Kyle's journey toward destiny in their gripping reimaging of James Cameron's classic.

What did we at Multiversity think about the first issue of the second volume of Whedon's new Terminator story? Find out after the cut!

Read more »

Debuting this November, STAN LEE'S THE TRAVELER #1 is currently available for pre-order from your local comic shop. To find the shop nearest you visit www.comicshoplocator.com.

STAN LEE'S THE TRAVELER is written by Eisner and Harvey Award-nominee Mark Waid (KINGDOM COME, IRREDEEMABLE) with art by Chad Hardin (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) and ships with seven covers, including A & B covers in a 50/50 split by Scott Clark and Chad Hardin respectively, a 1-in-25 incentive by Joe Benitez, 1-in-50 Undressed Scott Clark Variant, 1-in-75 Undressed Chad Hardin, 1-in-150 Undressed Joe Benitez Variant and a special 1-in-300 Stan Lee signed variant cover with all new cover art by Paul Rivoche. STAN LEE'S THE TRAVELER #1 carries a Diamond Code of SEP100889 and is shipping this November.

Read more »

I love Fall TV. All the new shows come out, we get to see familiar faces run around in new attires, and the chances for new favorite stories and characters to arrive is given it's opportunity. There are a ton of great shows on right now that just started, but one brand new show that falls into our sphere here at MC is ABC's new family comedy/drama, No Ordinary Family. It's ABC's new "super" show from Marc Guggenheim. The last Guggenheim show failed to take off with audiences (Eli Stone), but I'm willing to always give a new show an opportunity - especially if I have to review it anyway.

For this, I will also be adopting the "David" method of reviewing, as opposed to my normal sense of essay/rants. Hopefully this will allow me to focus a bit more and bring to you the reviews you so crave. Either way, take a look after the jump for my thoughts on the first episode of this new series.

Read more »

This week on Off the Cape, I've got a recent release from First Second Books from frequent Flight contributor Jen Wang: Koko Be Good. This book has garnered a good amount of buzz without me being aware of it - I simply was walking to buy my books at my local comic book shop when the cover caught my eye, and then when I flipped through it I quickly became enamored with it to the point that I simply had to buy it.

And I'm glad I did: this is a book that is filled to the brim with life - pure unadulterated life and vitality. Wang's art leaps off the page in a way that I haven't seen since I first witnessed Craig Thompson's work, and her writing provides a foundation for the art that is extremely easy to relate to and filled with vibrant and entertaining characters. I was floored by it.

Find out the details as to why after the jump.

Read more »

Top Cow Productions, Inc. is proud to announce Whilce Portacio as the new artist for the second ARTIFACTS story arc.

Portacio is best known for his work on The Punisher and Uncanny X-Men, helping co-found Image Comics and creating Wetworks. Most recently, he’s been attached to Uncanny X-Men for Marvel Comics.

ARTIFACTS recently made news as the publisher’s first title to ever sell out at the distributor level and go back for a third printing to meet demand. The limited series weaves together story lines from a number of Top Cow titles, including Witchblade, The Darkness, Angelus and Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box. The first arc, written by writer Ron Marz (Witchblade) and art by Michael Broussard (The Darkness, Unholy Union), kicked off with a mysterious figure seeking to put Armageddon into motion by bringing together all 13 artifacts.

ARTIFACTS will segue into the next four-issue arc with Portacio joining Marz on the project. The first chapter of Artifacts will conclude with a shocking cliffhanger and the second chapter shows no sign of letting up. With all of the players on the board, the antagonist manipulating the bearers of the artifacts moves to complete his plan for utter annihilation of the world. But how do the members of Cyberforce fit into the machinations of the supernatural?

Artifacts #5, a 32-page full color comic book, will be in stores December 29.

Hey, Multiversity friends and fans! As you may have noticed, we've been without an episode of Spoiler Alert here on MC for quite some time. Unfortunately, Mocle has been unavailable for a variety of personal reasons, so I can’t bug him to come over to my house the professional Multiversity recording studios to record an episode.

So I need YOU! Yes, you! The one reading this!

The plan is to just have comic fans come on the show for an episode and co-host with me, your favorite Multiversity EIC Matthew Meylikhov. I will essentially interview you and push the conversation into specific talking points about all things to do with comic books. You can be a HUGE comic fan who knows Alfred’s middle name or a brand new comic fan who bought an Iron Man comic book because Robert Downey Jr is cute. Whatever works! The point is that we're opening the door to our fan community, and who doesn't like to be vain for an afternoon and be interviewed? Trust me - it's fun.

So if you’d like to co-host an episode of Spoiler Alert, please e-mail me directly at matthew@multiversitycomics.com and we’ll work out the details! Having Skype and the ability to record audio on your end is preferable, but not neccesary. And if you think that you may know someone who would dig being on a podcast chatting about comics, send them a link to this! I'd like to talk to as many people as possible, so invite everyone you know!

Yay comics!

It's not really a secret here that I, if not every member of the MC staff, am a huge fan of Grant Morrison (notice the title of the site being that of an unreleased Morrison book?). So it's getting sent stuff like this that really excites me as a fan of reading.

Apparently, according to a find over at Robot 6 via Comics Alliance, this illustrated cover featuring Morrison and a variety of his creations popped up today in promotion of the upcoming book. Covering Morrison's work from his Zenith days all the way up to Multiversity, it will be the most complete essay book on Morrison to date, sufficiently knocking out the competition.

Take a look at the completed cover here:



Check out the full breakdown here, and get your Italian to English dictionaries out. We're gonna need 'em.

Imagine a land where Time itself has ceased to exist. Where children have played so long it’s almost become work, machines have worked so long they have begun to play and all the clocks have stopped at the same time. A land that’s about to change when 314 identical-looking dapper men rain down from the sky, bringing time back with them.

This is RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN, part fairy tale, part steampunk, all original, the highly anticipated graphic novel that’s already being hailed as “groundbreaking” and “an instant contemporary classic.” Featuring a Foreword by Tim Gunn (“Project Runway”) and pin-ups by 12 of today’s hottest artists, RETURN OF THE DAPER MEN is listed on Publisher’s Weekly Great Graphic Novels as Gifts and GraphicNovelReporter.com’s “Essential Reading” for Fall 2010.

Now, Archaia is proud to unveil this stunning new trailer, featuring an original score, animated artwork and an exciting glimpse into the graphic novel. RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN is a visually stunning fairy tale that combines steampunk with fantasy and science fiction with Renaissance style, brought to life from the minds of award-winning playwright and comic book writer Jim McCann (HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD) and critically acclaimed visual artist Janet Lee. Together, these two have created a world where J.M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll and Maurice Sendak meet Jim Henson and Tim Burton. All sharply dressed in a pin-stripe suit and a dapper bowler hat.

A limited number of copies of RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN: ADVANCE NEW YORK COMIC CON COLLECTOR’S EDITION will be available for sale at the Archaia booth (#2031) at New York Comic Con, October 8-10 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, and will be available wherever books are sold in November. To pre-order a copy, use ISBN code 978-1932386905.

We figure it might help to let you guys know what's coming out this week in comics, so welcome to our weekly feature! Our reviews come out tomorrow, so be sure to look over this list to get a preview of what we may or may not be reviewing tomorrow. We've added all of our own personal recommendations into this list as well, so be on the look out for bolded asterisks. Whenever you see one of those, it means we think you should be reading it. So keep your eyes open!

Read more »

DC put up a big teaser of what is to come next month when Bruce Wayne begins his trek back to the world of DC. It marks the end of one of Grant Morrison's biggest stories yet (spanning 3-4 titles, depending how you count) as well as a defining moment of Batman's history none of us will soon forget. Batman was one of the few heroes in the DC never to "die" in any capacity, so killing him in such an elaborate way is truly a milestone effort.

But now that he's back, things aren't just magically OK. DC has promised a new villain will rise with the return of Wayne, as to be chronicled via several one-shots entitled The Road Home. We've known about these one shots for a while now, but what we didn't know is what would be taking place in them. They were pretty much just a collection of writers and artists we all know and enjoy telling different stories from different corners of the Bat-verse. Apparently not. It's going to be more interconnected than we had originally assumed.

So take a look behind the cut for the full array of teasers, as provided by DC. They don't give a clear picture of what is to come, but it certainly raises some questions. Who is the new villain going to be? Is it a character we know taking up a new mantle, or is it someone we've never met? And what does it have to do with Bruce Wayne returning to our era?

Read more »

With the return of NBC's Chuck over the past two weeks, we're back as well with reviews of both episodes, titled "Chuck Versus the Anniversary" and "Chuck Versus the Suitcase" respectively. With my DVR fritzing out, I wasn't able to get to the premiere in time, but that gives you readers a special edition double review - more bang for your buck people!

With last season ending with Chuck finding out his mom was a spy as well as well as telling Ellie that he himself was done with the spy game. How does that bode for this new season?

Find out after the jump.

Read more »

Hot on the heels of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Batman: Under the Red Hood, DC released the direct follow up to Public Enemies titled Apocalypse. Originally written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by the dearly departed Michael Turner, Apocalypse tells the story of the re-introduction of Kara Zor-El, or as we know her, Supergirl. But how did I think it fared? You know what to do.

[WARNING: SPOILERS INSIDE]

Read more »

This past week, DC announced that their Wildstorm imprint was officially going away. While recently Wildstorm has been on a bit of a downturn, it still had produced some remarkably great books. It was the home of books that came from the mind of luminaries like Warren Ellis, Alan Moore, Ed Brubaker, Brian Wood, Brian K. Vaughan and a whole lot more.

In short, the Wildstorm is dead. Long the live the Wildstorm.

To commemorate it going away, today, Matt and I worked out what our combined top 10 Wildstorm titles ever are. Check it out after the jump and let us know what your top books are (were?) in the comments.

Read more »

You read that right - Bob Harras, Marvel's EIC from 1995 to 2000 (and a man well known for making the X-Books the flagship books of the Marvel world), was named Editor-in-Chief of DC Comics today. As the DC: The Source post says:

Harras will oversee editorial for DC Comics, DC Universe, MAD Magazine and Vertigo and will be based in New York City, reporting directly to the Co-Publishers. Harras becomes the company’s first Editor-in-Chief in nearly 10 years since the position was held by Jenette Kahn from 1981 to 2002.

This is cool news, although it is interesting to note: he was EIC for Marvel during perhaps their most creatively bankrupt (and highest selling) period. Granted, he does have esteem with yours truly given his relationship with my beloved X-Books, but I'm a bit skeptical of this with the word Vertigo being in the picture. That scares me just a little bit. I feel like you need a fresh voice there especially, but overall DC needs a spark of vitality, as I personally feel their comic output has been a bit stale lately.

We'll see how this plays out, but you can read more about it at The Source. Good luck to Mr. Harras...you have a lot of work ahead of you.

I don't have much more information than that. In fact, I probably shouldn't have put the whole premise of the post in just the title. However, I dig Garth Ennis. I love Preacher, and the Boys - currently on Dynamite - is fun too. Meanwhile, you've got Batista on Jungle Girl and Red Sonja, also both on Dynamite.

So what is the new image seen here? Not really sure. But hey, chances are I will buy it and review it for you. So keep your eyes peeled as we get new information.

(source)

Hopefully my incredibly blunt title illustrates the ... mild underwhelming nature of this.

Anyways, the first shots of Chris Evans as Captain America showed up online. No costumes yet, but Chris Evans has seriously bulked up. A lot. I mean, seriously, look at that. He's a freakin' super soldier. Of course... I'd love to see him in costume too.

On the top side of the post, we have a shot of someone watching the filming of Captain America, with a car exploding, windows shattering, and Chris Evans standing around and watching. Suffice it to say, I think this is going to be an action film!

My snark aside, I am really excited for the film. Chris Evans looks good, and doesn't really look like Chris Evans here so much as he does a new version of the same actor, so that's a plus. While I am not expecting the movie to be handed to me on a silver spoon right now (though it would be nice!) I am excited to see what comes out of this.

(source)

Do you remember a show called Pushing Daisies by Bryan Fuller starring Lee Pace and Anna Friel that was adorable, poignant, and allowed us all an interesting look at what in our leaves we need to appreciate most through bright colors, clever filmography, and quirky dialogue? BECAUSE I DO. And I'm still sore about it! So I guess it's a good thing that Fuller is producing a comic that will be released on DC Comics.

Fuller had this to say:

“Issue number 1 will hopefully be out in early 2011, issue number 2 is being colored as we speak, and issue number 3 is being written. Our Emmy-award-winning composer Jim Dooley and I have been talking about giving the audience a multimedia experience with the comic—specifically a score. We have no idea whether we can actually afford to do an actual Pushing Daisies comic soundtrack (because the cast has agreed to sing songs and those licensing fees are expensive), but Jim has already started composing musical cues that we will either release officially or stream for freesies online when the comic book is published. I’ve already heard the track for Lee Pace’s cover ditty and it’s fantastic.”

Now - there WAS an online comic, but it's no longer online at ABC.com. So one can hope that this will see reprinting. But I can't help but remember - all of DC's licensed work came out on Wildstorm. So how exactly is this going to come out on DC? I know that they've mentioned that their licensed work will still be coming out, but does the WS shutdown effect this at all? I would certainly hope (and to be honest, assume) not. Either way, I would LOVE to see this comic come to life, because the series ended on a cliffhanger that makes me want to cry just thinking about it.

(source)

We're not entirely sure what Ruffalo did to get the Hulk away from Norton. Perhaps it was his totally awesome performance in The Brothers Bloom that did it, and if you haven't seen that movie please do. Well, it looks like Marvel's Avengers will be taking a page out of LOTR's book and letting Ruffalo Serkis it up for a bit, because Mark Ruffalo will be doing motion capture to actually BE the Hulk in the upcoming film.

In an interview with NY Mag, Ruffalo said, "I'm really excited. No one's ever played the Hulk exactly, they've always done CGI... They're going to do the Avatar stop-action, stop-motion capture. So I'll actually play the Hulk. That'll be fun." That could actually be really cool, depending on how it plays out. He also went on to note that he wanted to play a more sensitive Hulk that's actually a tad relatable. Not that Norton wasn't.

I'm interested to see how it's going to play out, personally. Norton did a fantastic job at making a movie starring the Hulk actually appealing (with Ty Burrel as a Samson cameo!), and I would honestly have liked to see more of it. I mean, if Norton was in the Avengers, could you believe the insane star power behind the movie? I like Ruffalo, but he's not as big of a name. However - I do like Ruffalo. He's a very talented actor, and he clearly did something right to be the Hulk. And he's going to actually be the first person to play the Hulk since Lou Ferigno? I can dig it.

(source via source)

I like to think I'm a good reader. I also like to think I'm a good skimmer at times. However, for the life of me I've gone over the article twice and I just can't figure out what I'm looking for! So, maybe you can help me:

Over at CBR, they posted their weekly T&A article in which Tom Brevoort and Axel Alonso sit down to dish with the folks at CBR, just like Joe Quesada does in Cup O' Joe. It's a great article and really allows us to look into Marvel's process, which is interesting because no other comic company really does it like this. This week, they posted a bunch of images labeled "Tom Brevoort's Secret Project", but nothing beyond that (unless I'm blind) - and it's leaving me quite perplexed.

So - what is this project? What is this weird explosion type thing that looks like the SHIELD logo and/or the Phoenix? What does Iron Man, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist have to do with it? And what about all those Iron Man robot things?

Go to Comic Book Resources and see if you can't help me out, guys, because I'm at a loss. If anyone can tell me where I'm not looking, we'll update the post. Until then - huh?

In last week's Avengers, Bendis and Romita Jr provided with us a timeline of the Marvel Universe as designed and arranged by Tom Brevoort. It's pretty intense to look at, showing us ideas of what's coming up and when it happens - including Three (Fantastic Four), the Chaos War, Hope Returns (Second Coming), Nine Worlds In Disarray (Thor/Avengers: Prime), Schism, Galactus Seed, Night Falls, Scorched Earth, Five Lights, 999 - Who Is Worthy, Return of the King and finally - Ultron War, which is currently happening in Avengers.

Of course, Comic Book Resources in their T and A segment posted the original version of the time line, including Iron Lad Returns (WHAT?!), Old Man Logan, Yesterday's X-Men, All Hope Lies In Doom (again, a Fantastic Four/Three reference), and even things like Days of the Future Past, Spider-Girl, and War of the Worlds.



It's pretty interesting to look out. Timelines are always an element that is in question in comic books, especially because time admittedly doesn't work in comics the same way it does for us, but the above images make you wonder - what exactly does Marvel have in store for us with the next few years? And how much of it does Brevoort already know?

(source)

THE WALKING DEAD "Opening Titles" from Daniel Kanemoto on Vimeo.

Speaking of Walking Dead, this fan-made trailer has been making the rounds. Comprised of animated clips assembled out of images from the comics, this is - pardon the fanboy moment - frakking fantastic.

So AMC - what say you? Kinda makes you curious as to what the opening of Walking Dead will be now.

Pilot Season has begun for all our television needs, but there's one show still missing - THE WALKING DEAD. Set to premiere at the end of October on Halloween, it is arguably the one show we are all looking forward to the most, at least that hasn't already aired yet.

So I guess it helps then that AMC has released the Sizzle Reel, narrated by Robert Kirkman from under the pile of undead zombies. Take a look above and enjoy as we get ready for what is assumedly going to be AMC's next home run of a show (not including the Prisoner remake or Rubicon).

(source)

Mark Waid and The Hero Initiative want comic fans to rise up and be a hero! If you live in California, Nevada, Illinois, and Indiana, sign up your Ralphs, Food4Less, Cala Foods or Bell Markets rewards card with the “Community Contributions” program and the next time you shop using your rewards card you'll be helping comic book creators in need of emergency medical aid, financial support, and other necessities. It's never been easier to be a hero!

As part of the “Community Contributions” program, Ralphs, Food4Less, Cala Foods and Bell Markets will make a donation to The Hero Initiative every time you shop with your rewards card. Not only are you saving money but you're saving lives.

Here's how you too can become a hero!:

1) Log onto your www.ralphs.com and sign into your rewards account. If you don't have a Ralphs.com account sign up, it's free and it saves you cash!

2) After signing in, click on the following link:
https://customer.ralphs.com/ManageCommunityRewardsStep1.aspx
or if that doesn't work try the second link blow:
https://customer.ralphs.com/ManageCommunityRewardsStep3.aspx

3) Fill out the information form including The Hero Initiative NPO# and corporate name:
NPO#: 80680
Corporate Name: A Commitment To Our Roots.

4) Start shopping!

If you've already signed up but it's been more than a year, sign up again! Every Sept 1st “Community Contributions” are reset which means if you're not sure your purchasing power is helping The Hero Initiative, now's the time to find out!

So tell your family, friends, comic shop acquaintances, Mark Waid is looking for heroes! Sign up those rewards cards and shop at your local Ralphs, Food4Less, Cala Foods and/or Bell Markets to help The Hero Initiative and uphold a tradition of generosity towards comic creators in need of medical, financial, and moral support.

To find your local Ralphs use the Ralphs Store Locator
(http://services.ralphs.com/StoreLocator/StoreLocatorAdvanced.aspx)

To find your local Food4Less use the Food4Less Store Locator
(http://services.food4less.com/StoreLocator/StoreLocatorAdvanced.aspx)

Read more »

Brandon is tied up this week, so I'll be handling the cover touting duties for the week. Except I get the unfortunate distinction of having to write about one of the worst release weeks in terms of titles in...well, as long as I can really remember. This week only one cover really kills it for me, and Dustin Nguyen's Batman: Streets of Gotham #16 cover being a satisfactory entry that I don't get a lot out of (mostly because I don't read the book). So what book is the whole of the list this week?

Find out after the jump.

Read more »

You knwo the drill, here are my books this week. This week there are a lot of 5's in my lists, with the fifth issues of Flash, Adjectiveless Avengers, and Legion of Super-Heroes here, along with the fifty-second issue of Green Lantern Corps! What a coincidence! The scale is as follows:

0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 - 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 - 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 - 3.9: You'd be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 - 4.9: "I'll give it another month...but that was not good."
5.0 - 5.9: "Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun."
6.0 - 6.9: "Hmm. That was decent."
7.0 - 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 - 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 - 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender

Read more »

Smallville is back! 10 years later, they’re back airing their final season. This is it. This is the season he finally flies. It’s the season the suit finds its way onto his body. Here he finally faces…Darkseid?

YES, Darkseid seems to be the big bad of the ultimate season of the show about the big blue Boy Scout. That’s probably the biggest draw this season, as he’s probably Superman’s greatest foe after Lex.

Somehow, there are big expectations for this season. I can tell you, this was the first season I would have considered myself excited for since the beginning of season 7 (which turned out to be an awful season…just like Season 8…). But do they live up to these crazy expectations? Check out the review after the cut!

Read more »

If this site were the Daily What, I would probably call this "Here You Go, Internet of the Day."

On last night's Community premiere, Donald Glover briefly hopped out of bed in Spider-Man pajamas during the show's opening sequence. It gave fans the one and only look of what Glover might have been like as Spider-Man: a sleepy community college student who fights crime in pajamas.

So there you have it.

WHAT’S THIS?! The much beloved writer of such Multiversity Comics editorials as Hate Mail and Soundtrack To Your Geekout has moved into the weekly review pool?! That’s right, snitches. I’m back. Let’s get to work and check out the handy dandy rating system...

0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 - 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 - 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 - 3.9: You'd be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 - 4.9: "I'll give it another month...but that was not good."
5.0 - 5.9: "Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun."
6.0 - 6.9: "Hmm. That was decent."
7.0 - 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 - 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 - 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender

On the docket this week are Hit-Monkey #3, Avengers Academy #4, Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis #3 and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #14. A slate of underdog books (in the grand scheme of things), so lets dig in a bit shall we?

Hit the jump!

Read more »

Man, Marvel LOVES it's Avengers movies, doesn't it?! We've got the main three heroes (Iron Man, Thor, Cap), the main title (Avengers), the Runaways have a film currently casting/pre-production, and not only is Nick Fury and SHIELD getting it's own movie with Black Panther, Iron Fist, and Doc Strange having rumored films too, but the Black Widow will get one as well!

At a press conference held for the release of the blu-ray of Iron Man 2, Kevin Feige announced that they are in fact working with Johansson to develop a Black Widow film. "We've already started discussions with Scarlett about the idea of a solo movie and have begun putting together concepts," Feige said, although he did note that the Avengers comes first.

What would happen in this film? No one knows yet. Johansson wants to do something with the character and has for a while, but I'm unsure if the Black Widow could hold a solo film. To me, it feels a lot like an Elektra in the making. But people (that aren't me) love Johansson and loved her brief role as the Russian spy who somehow didn't have a Russian accent, so we'll see what happens. Black Widow does have a very rich history in the comics, with Paul Cornell having just written a pretty good origin reboot story, so there's plenty for them to go with. I guess we'll see how it plays out.

With Superman/Batman: Apocalypse a week away from release, DC has released the DVD exclusive trailer of All-Star Superman a tad early (over at MTV Splash Page. The trailer gives a very brief look at what to expect from the upcoming DC Animated film, which will be released Winter 2011.

My two comments that I have immediately after watching is 1) at least Superman does somewhat look like Quitely drew him, if not definitively like how Quitely draws and 2) this doesn't really feel like All-Star Superman. All-Star Superman is a critically acclaimed tale of Superman which is definitely unlike any other Superman title. This movie trailer gives the impression that it's rather... standard. You see Lex Luthor and Superman, locked in battle as they always are, but you don't really get a feel for anything other than that.

It still could be good. DC has been getting pretty good at keeping their stories close to their origin points (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Under the Red Hood were both very close adaptations, albeit not perfect ones). Let's just keep our fingers crossed for this.

This week brought a wide variety of books, especially in terms of quality. That's part of the fun of reviewing books - sometimes they're great, sometimes...they're not so great. Before we get into what was what, check out below for our scoring system.

0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 - 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 - 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 - 3.9: You'd be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 - 4.9: "I'll give it another month...but that was not good."
5.0 - 5.9: "Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun."
6.0 - 6.9: "Hmm. That was decent."
7.0 - 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 - 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 - 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender

This week my reviews include Uncanny X-Men #528, Fables #98, Secret Avengers #5, and Nemesis #3. Fraction, Willingham, Brubaker AND Millar? What a fun group of writers. But which books were good and which were bad? Good question.

Find out after the jump.

Read more »

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Dark Horse Comics applaud a decision issued by United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holding that two Oregon statutes that criminalize distributing sex education and other non-obscene materials to minors are unconstitutional in violation of the First Amendment. The State of Oregon argued that the statutes applied only to “hardcore pornography,” but the Ninth Circuit found that they applied to much more, including Kentaro Miura’s manga “Berserk,” Judy Blume’s “Forever,” and Margaret Atwood’s “A Handmaid’s Tale.” The plaintiffs did not challenge Oregon’s existing law making it a crime to contact a minor with the intent of having sexual contact. CBLDF and Dark Horse were among the plaintiff group challenging the statutes.

Mike Richardson, publisher of plaintiff Dark Horse comics says, "We were extremely happy to see these statutes overturned. Our Constitution's First Amendment was intended to keep the hands of the government off the printing presses of America. Creators everywhere can breath a sigh of relief that these laws, open to interpretation and likely to be abused, have been put down."

“This is an important victory permitting readers − both younger and older − to obtain what they are constitutionally entitled to read,” said Michael Powell of plaintiff Powell’s Books. “It is also a victory for booksellers who do not want to ask 13-year-olds for identification or risk going to jail for selling a Judy Blume book.”

“The court did the right thing by rejecting the State’s promise that it wouldn’t prosecute the plaintiffs under these statutes,” said P.K. Runkles-Pearson, counsel for plaintiffs. “This decision allows educators to provide straightforward health information to minors without worrying that the State will prosecute if it disagrees with them.”

The decision was issued in a lawsuit brought by Powell’s Books, Inc.; Annie Bloom’s Books; Dark Horse Comics, Inc.; Colette’s Good Food + Hungry Minds, LLC; Pauline Springs Books; St. John’s Booksellers, LLC; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; Association of American Publishers, Inc.; Freedom to Read Foundation, Inc.; Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Candace Morgan, Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette, Inc.; Cascade AIDS Project and the ACLU of Oregon.

Plaintiffs were represented by Michael A. Bamberger of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, New York, general counsel to Media Coalition, and P.K. Runkles-Pearson of Stoel Rives LLP, Portland, Oregon, a cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Oregon.

The full text of the decision can be read at www.cbldf.org

Read more »

I still don't have anything very clever to say for this week's introduction, so here is another video of a kitten.

0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 - 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 - 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 - 3.9: You'd be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 - 4.9: "I'll give it another month...but that was not good."
5.0 - 5.9: "Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun."
6.0 - 6.9: "Hmm. That was decent."
7.0 - 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 - 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 - 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender

This week my reviews include Fantastic Four #583, Power Girl #16, Superman/Batman #76, and Hulk #25. A different mix this week, with some new titles I love and some not so new titles I've been rather hard on.

Check out all the reviews after the jump.

Read more »

Written by Matt Fraction with art by Pasqual Ferry

Fraction! Ferry! Heroic Age! The perfect jumping-on point as THOR's all-new creative team and all-new era kick off HERE! In the wake of SIEGE, Asgard must take its proper place as the Golden Realm, most glorious of the nine worlds of myth. But that means Thor's home isn't just a beacon...it's a target! And what happens to the Asgardians and the denizens of all nine worlds -- including Earth! -- when a dark, destructive force from another reality comes on the warpath?

What did we at Multiversity think of Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry's new Thor? Find out after the jump!

Read more »

I know what you're thinking. "Matt, why haven't you done Deadpool yet? What about Wolverine?" Because that's so damn easy. Yes, those characters have too many comics, but here's what I've noticed as I've gone through to do these lists - there are characters who have it worse. And, believe it or not, the Punisher is one of them.

The Punisher has had an odd few years recently. Fraction came in with Punisher: War Journal, his first major ongoing for Marvel, and this book was followed up by Rick Remender's Punisher. The Punisher was then killed during Dark Reign, and then quickly stitched together to become Frankencastle. Now, the Punisher is quickly being put into multiple books to fill out multiple roles as it seems Marvel wants to make him more popular.

So is it working? I've got 7 books on shelves for the Punisher at the moment - what are you buying? Let's take a look behind the cut to see what's going on in the world of Marvel's #1 murderous "super hero."

Read more »

Another week of Comics Should Be Cheap is here, and we have a week that features a ton of big books and hard choices for our writers. For those who are buying on a tight budget, consult our lists to get ideas of what would be the best bang for your buck this week in the world of comics.

Find out our picks after the jump.

Read more »

We figure it might help to let you guys know what's coming out this week in comics, so welcome to our weekly feature! Our reviews come out tomorrow, so be sure to look over this list to get a preview of what we may or may not be reviewing tomorrow. We've added all of our own personal recommendations into this list as well, so be on the look out for bolded asterisks. Whenever you see one of those, it means we think you should be reading it. So keep your eyes open!

Read more »

In case you hadn't noticed, new TV season is upon us. Starting with Sunday and Boardwalk Empire, our televisions are about to get readily filled up with perhaps some of the best television we've ever seen - or the worst. But while everyone else is getting their game going now, AMC is waiting until October 31st to unveil their new horror epic: the Walking Dead, based on the Image comic book.

So since we aren't getting any episodes any time soon, AMC has instead released an image of what the final poster is going to look like - and hoo boy, does it look good! Featuring Rick Grimes on his horse as he trudges towards Atlanta and the zombie horde that awaits him there. AMC has been great about not showing too much about what is going to happen in the series so far, with all the footage and images they've debuted so far really just covering the first couple issues. It's safe to say that the viewers out there excited for the show who haven't read the book yet are in for quite a treat.

So set your DVRs, program your TiVos, and prep your bittorrent clients - the Walking Dead is coming.

Well,I suppose it had to happen.

In news broken on iFanboy, Zuda, the online distributor owned by DC; and Wildstorm,the company that brought Jim Lee into the fold at DC, are being shuttered. Citing the need to change in an ever changing environment, they've pulled the plug on both companies.

But all is not lost! It appears the creator-owned titles on Wildstorm will be folded into Vertigo while their licensed material, kid's comics, and the exploits of Earth-50 (that's the Wildstorm Universe, for those of you playing the home game) will be published under the DC Banner. ZUDA comics (a company we formerly had a weekly feature on) will continue under the DC Banner as well.

I'm not entirely surprised. With the existence of Vertigo and the new DC Comic App, both did seem a bit on the redundant side. What do you think though?

Click the link above or read the letter from Jim Lee and Dan DiDio after the cut!

Read more »

This week on Off the Cape, I have a book that pretty much perfectly fits what I'm looking to do with this column: provide recommendations of comics that aren't superhero comics to people who typically read superhero comics. Why is that? This week I have a Fantastic Four comic from Marvel that isn't at all like the Fantastic Four you normally think of. It's an alleged account of the foursome that inspired Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to create these challengers of the unknown, as put together by writer James Sturm with art from Guy Davis, R. Sikoryak, Sturm himself and Craig Thompson.

For those that aren't familiar with non-superhero works, that's a hell of a lineup of creators for one project, and what they put together with this collection of the 2003 limited series is a very unique and challenging entry into the long history of the Fantastic Four.

Check out my thoughts after the jump.

Read more »

When comic fans think of the top cities for comics, the number one choice almost assuredly would be "New York." Why wouldn't it be? It's home to DC and Marvel as well as a ton of high profile creators. It's a perfectly reasonable assumption...but one that I wholeheartedly disagree with.

No, for me, the best comic city in the nation is Portland, Oregon.

More known for the huge amount of yearly rainfall that befalls the city and the overabundance of hipsters proliferating its streets, it also is a mecca for the writers, artists and publishers who create the comics we all know and love. Check after the jump as I walk you through why exactly Portland is where you should be if you're a comic fan or creator.

Read more »

As seen over at Comics Alliance, Archie #616 is going to get a bit political. As announced at Comic Con, President Obama and ex-Vice Presidential Candidate (and David and Brandon's favorite woman) Sarah Palin will be journeying down to Riverdale ... to share a milk shake.

As the solicit says:

President Barack Obama and famed politician Sarah Palin get involved as Student Government campaigns spiral out of control at Riverdale High! The race between Archie and Reggie gets hot as campaign chaos reaches to the top, forcing an impromptu visit from these big-name politicos, who get pulled into the fray!

...I don't know what else to say beyond that. So I'll leave it as is.

It was announced at ComicCon that Chloe would be appearing in Action Comics as written by Nick Spencer (Morning Glories) for the back-up feature starring Jimmy Olsen. The co-feature starts next week with art by R.B. Silva, and TV Guide gave a sneak peek of what she'll look like!

Not going to lie - I think the comic version is even cuter than the real thing! After reading Morning Glories, I think it's safe to say that this co-feature is going to be pretty great, and after Sterling Gates turned Olsen into a complete badass and Cornell made Action Comics a definite must buy, I think it's safe to say that this comic is going to end up in most of our collections.

In what promises to be a set of new and quite amusing webseries, a brand new show called Avengers Assemble! is here! Featuring a group of quite hilarious cosplayers, Avengers Assemble pits the Avengers versus some of the biggest issues of today. And it starts with an easy one: Health Care!

Certainly a grand way to start a Tuesday morning, no? Loosen up, relax, and laugh. This is really quite funny. And hey, if you like it, subscribe to the show! It promises to be pretty amusing as time goes on.

The highly anticipated Archaia graphic novel hardcover, RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN, just got a lot more dapper with the addition of Tim Gunn to the book’s list of contributors. The co-host of television’s “Project Runway” and best-selling author of Gunn's Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making It Work has written the introduction to the original fairy tale, which he compares to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, calling it “a transformational experience, a morality tale that is certain to become an instant contemporary classic.”

“I was thrilled and honored to be asked to contribute to RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN!” said Gunn. “After reading the script and seeing the art, I truly believe that this is a work of literature that will be enjoyed by all generations. I would say it’s especially an important work to put before children, many children—elementary school libraries everywhere should purchase several copies each!”

For the full press release, please check behind the cut

Read more »

And lo, a new super team ongoing was born!

Well, we all figured this one out pretty quickly, but Marvel has given us the first official team, and it's Shadowland-errific! Featuring Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, Elektra, and the Punisher - all who have starring roles in Shadowland - the teaser announces that the book will debut in December. Of course, Paladin, Misty Knight, and Falcon are missing from this teaser... but I'm going to guess that this team won't stay with this line-up for very long. This is kind of like an anti-hero team, and I can't imagine Ghost Rider, Elektra and the Punisher will stick around on a team very long.

It also seems that Iron Fist and Moon Knight can just not pick a team! Sorry, Avengers.

So the only question left is - who is writing? Zeb Wells was the last writer on the previous Heroes for Hire book, but despite my fingers crossed that he would get to continue writing Elektra, it looks like the cosmic champions Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning will be bringing this book out the launch gate - which, to be quite frank, is just as good. We still don't know what's going to happen in the Cosmic Marvel U post-Thanos Imperative, so as long as they're on a team book with an odd dynamic, I'll buy it. This will also mark the book's third volume, with the book having initially started in 1996 and having another run in 2006 started by Palmiotti and Gray.

For more information, as well as an idea of what to expect from the duo, go to Marvel's official announcement.

Last week, we were incredibly excited to share that Multiversity favorite Kieron Gillen had signed an exclusive deal with Marvel, and would now be co-writing Uncanny X-Men as well as writing Generation Hope by his lonesome. Talk about your love of mutants!

Almost the exact same time that we posted about his exclusive, I sent out an e-mail to Mr. Gillen with a few questions about his thoughts on signing to Marvel, the Uncanny X-Men process, some of his plans for Generation Hope, and his other planned work. We also find out exactly where you may (or may not) be seeing Phonogram again (don't get your hopes too high, fans). So as details will certainly be coming up with his X-Men run in the future, we are more than pleased to give you a small sneak preview of the future work of Kieron Gillen!

Peep behind the cut for the interview!

Read more »