The above Achewood strip represents my relationship with comic books, particularly my genuine attempt (key word: attempt) at reading the fifteen million billion Flashpoint and Fear Itself tie-ins that came out this month, solely for the sake of this feature. I feel that it provides necessary context for the article that follows after the jump.

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2001 was a good year to be an X-Fan (at least for lowly 14 year-old Josh). The first X-Men movie had just hit and Marvel was investing pretty heavily in the Mutant side of their universe. By bringing in talent like Joe Casey and Grant Morrison to revitalize the line, it created one of the more unique (visually and in terms of the stories told) eras on the flagship titles and breathed more life into some characters than had been done in several years. Not simply satisfied by writing characters into the team books themselves, Marvel began the X-Men Icons series: several mini-series (some overlapping, some not) focusing on the adventures of a solo X-Man. One of those X-Men was a personal favorite of mine, Iceman, and one of his biggest spotlights that year (and since, if we're going to be honest) was that mini-series.

Yet now, almost 9 years later, it seems lost to the sands of time and indeed some of it was even written out of continuity. Click on down to find out why.

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Today is the day: everything changes in a flash! DC's Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1 are officially in stores, and with them comes a brand new universe full of brand new possibilities. We have just about no clue what is actually going to happen in the months to come - but we do know what has happened right now.

Or, more specifically: we know what has happened in the past month.

The month of August featured all of DC's finales, wrapping up every single book in their main imprint. So that's why we at Multiversity thought it would be fun to read every single final issue and write a few thoughts on it, whether or not it was good as a book finale or if it just ended up being a random issue to be forgotten in time.

Join Matt and Brandon after the cut for 36 finales (and come back in a month for 52 first issues), and find out what you missed in all the various finales. Spoilers abound, of course

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Angel & Faith #1
Written By: Christos Gage
Illustrated By: Rebekah Isaacs

Left in a near-catatonic state following the events in Buffy Season 8, Angel will need a seriously rude awakening if he's to make amends for his ill-conceived deeds. Enter rebel Slayer with a cause--Faith Lehane. Together they'll have full access to the Watcher files and opportunities to make amends for all they've done . . . and will do.

Here we are! Joss Whedon and his cult favorite band of demon hunters are coming back, but without two of their most popular members, Buffy’s ex-boyfriend Angel and her one-time nemesis and current friend Faith Lehane, the rogue Vampire Slayer. Considering what’s happened in the past season of Buffy, it seemed natural to move them to their own title and continue their adventures there. And as a bonus, they brought fan-favorite Christos Gage and self-described Buffy fan Rebekah Isaacs as the creative team to boot! Beyond the cut you’ll see my feelings on the book.

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In a recently released teaser for Marvel's upcoming post-Fear Itself mini, The Fearless, we get to see Sin and Valkyrie hanging out, posing with some guns and blades. It's an odd image, as I can't imagine a character like Sin would ever want to pose in any kind of sultry stance, but who am I to comment what an insane mass murderer does in her free time?

The Fearless will follow Valkyrie and Sin as they race across the globe to try and collect any remaining hammers from the fallout of Fear Itself, and is set to be released in October.

Marvel Press Release

The fate of the world lies in the hands of an angel and a demon.

Who will succeed?! Join the conversation on Twitter with #FearItself

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Written by Geoff Johns
Illustrated by Jim Lee

Comics superstars Geoff Johns and Jim Lee make history! In a universe where super heroes are strange and new, Batman has discovered a dark evil that requires him to unite the World Greatest Heroes!

This spectacular debut issue is also offered as a special combo pack edition, polybagged with a redemption code for a digital download of the issue.

It all starts here. The DCnU starts here with the biggest book in the DC universe reimagined by its biggest writer and its biggest artist. It's a pretty big deal - maybe the biggest comic release in...well, I can't even remember how long. It's a hail mary and a half, but is it a good comic?

Find out after the jump.

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In addition to the Gold team image we just posted, there is an additional image with more Blue team members. Storm is joining Gischler's X-Men, and Gillen is keeping Juggercolossus (Colossusnaut?) and adding Magik to the main title.

As I mentioned, there is at least one fully unsilhoutted image out on the internet revealing more characters, but if you want to see it you'll have to go do some Google searches (I still haven't looked).

Either way, what do you think of the new team members? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and we'll update you with more unsilhoutted images as we get them!

Revealed today, Marvel has put out part of their Gold team post-Regenesis teaser with a few unsilhoutted characters: Deadpool on X-Force, Iceman on Wolverine's X-Men team, and Layla Miller, Shatterstar and Rahne still on X-Factor (no big surprise there). There is, however, a noticable lack of unsilhoutted characters on Rogue's X-Men Legacy team - which could mean nothing, or could mean everything.

It is also noteworthy that at least one fully unsilhoutted image has leaked onto the internet, but you'll have to go do some Google searches to find that (personally, I haven't looked).

Either way, what do you think of the new team members? The only big reveal here is Iceman on Wolverine's team, although you probably could've assumed that would happen given their relationship in comics. Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and we'll update you with more unsilhoutted images as we get them!

Marvel Press Release

After the cataclysmic events of X-Men: Schism, all of mutantkind will be forced to make the biggest decision of their lives. What team will you choose?

Join the conversation on Twitter with #XMenRegenesis!

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We've talked before about how great Phil Noto's art blog is, but recently Noto started a new series of images: From The Hank Pym Photo Archives. Featuring classic Marvel characters in retro settings, the series acts as photographs of familiar faces in entirely non-superheroic settings.

Or, to put it much more simply, it's just a collection of awesome.

Check behind the cut to see the current collection of "photographs," as well as an added bonus at the bottom.

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Last night at midnight, Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1 were released for comic book fans everywhere to read and either enjoy or deride, depending on the person. It's an exciting time to be a comic fan no matter who you are, though - and nothing quite sums it up like the above video.

Watch the video above and head out to your local shop to hop in on all the fun. Stay tuned to Multiversity for more news and reviews on the upcoming relaunch throughout the day, week, month, and heck - the rest of the year.

(video stolen quite shamelessly via source)

Image Press Release

Like Image Comics, UK's Thought Bubble festival celebrates sequential art in all its forms and genres. Now the leading creator-owned publisher is joining forces with the non-profit Thought Bubble organization to celebrate the fifth year of the festival with THOUGHT BUBBLE ANTHOLOGY, a collection whose proceeds will go to the charity Banardos.

THOUGHT BUBBLE ANTHOLOGY will feature short stories written by Andy Diggle, Stuart Gordon, and Antony Johnston, gorgeous art by Charlie Adlard, Duncan Fegredo, and D'Israeli, and a cover by Becky Cloonan, and will also include the six winners of the Northern Sequential Arts Competition.

"Thought Bubble is delighted to be working with one of our favourite publishers, Image Comics, for our first ever anthology," said Lisa Wood, Thought Bubble Festival Director. "We are stunned at the support we have received from everyone who has contributed to the comic and hope it is the first of many more to come!"

For the full press release, please check behind the cut

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Do you like prizes? Do you like Artist August? Well we have a deal for you!

Starting today and running until the close of the 31st, we'll have a contest running in which anyone who comments on this thread with the name of their favorite artist and your favorite work of theirs will have the chance to win a prize pack that features at least the following items:

- A signed and sketched in copy of The Walking Dead Vol. 14: No Way Out from Charlie Adlard (see picture)

- A signed sketch book from Rob Guillory (Chew)

- A one-of-a-kind sketched on copy of The Red Wing #1 from Nick Pitarra

- A Luther Strode sketch and a signed 11 x 17 poster of the first The Strange Talent of Luther Strode cover from Tradd Moore

- Late Addition! A signed copy of Caanan Grall's excellent collection of his Zuda Comics series Celadore!

Get your comments in - we'll randomly select and announce the winner on September 1st! Please include your e-mail address in the comment as well, so we can contact you in case you win!

Right when the DCnU was announced, we at Multiversity had a myriad of reactions. One of our articles that we did featured every member of this site making just one wish for the relaunch. Some of us were specific, and some of us were not so specific - but we all knew next to nothing about the endeavor outside of a few rumors and one or two announced titles.

Now we know just about everything. We haven't looked inside any of the actual books, and we won't have full thoughts on the matter for another month (at least), but we can at least answer one question: "did DC make my wish come true?"

Check behind the cut to see who won and who lost in the upcoming relaunch from your favorite staff.

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Written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi

Kazu Kibuishi's thrilling, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling series continues!

Emily and her friends think they'll find the help they need in Cielis, but something isn't right. Streets that were once busy are deserted, and the townspeople who are left live in crippling fear. Emily is escorted to the Academy where she's expected to compete for a spot on the Guardian Council, the most powerful Stonekeepers. But as the number of competitors gets smaller and smaller, a terrible secret is slowly uncovered--a secret that, if left buried, means certain destruction of everything Emily fights for.

Amulet is back for it's latest installment! Hoorah!

Let's chat about it after the cut. Some minor spoilers are discussed.

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To follow up on our earlier Off the Cape, we'd like to share with you some of our favorite images from Sean Murphy. While we unfortunately didn't get the chance to chat with him, he is still one of our absolute favorite current working artists, and we'd be remiss if we didn't get you on the Sean Murphy bandwagon as well. And if you like what you see, be sure to grab Joe The Barbarian, Hellblazer: City of Demons, Off Road and the currently-being-released American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest mini for more Murphy art!

Check after the cut for some examples of Murphy's talent. Additionally, be sure to check out his DeviantArt page for lots of pages in process from American Vampire and Hellblazer and more, and for even more Murphy art, be sure to check out his webpage.

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On occasion, it has happened that we'll read a book by a writer we know and like with an artist we are unfamiliar with, and that artist will blow us away. It's not a completely unusual occurrence, but every so often it does cause us to go out and actively search for more work by that artist. And what better way to celebrate such an occurence than here during August Artist? So from Grant Morrison's Joe The Barbarian, today's Off the Cape has us going on a journey not just off the cape but also off the road (I literally couldn't resist making that joke) in writer/artist Sean Murphy's first graphic novel, Off Road (originally from Oni Press, currently from IDW).

Find out more after the cut.

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On the last segment of this week's 4 Color News and Brews, Brandon and David review four books. They talk about:

- FF #8 from Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting
- Captain America and Bucky #621 from Ed Brubaker, Marc Andreyko and Chris Samnee
- Chew #20 from John Layman and Rob Guillory
- The Intrepids #6 from Kurtis Wiebe and Scott Kowalchuk

Check back next week for the month in review.

Today in Artist August, we spotlighted Spanish artist Juan José Ryp. Over the past decade, he's gone from Jungle Fantasy covers to being the regular artist on Wolverine: The Best There Is. Along the way, though, he's worked on stories from the likes of Alan Moore and Warren Ellis, and upped the stakes for detailed carnage in a comics world that's maybe grown a bit too complacent without Geof Darrow around.

Mr. Ryp himself chose some recent art for us to showcase after the jump, but if you want to see more, including samples of his Spanish-market work and gorgeous process posts, check out his blog!

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Today, Artist August brings you an artist who spent years as one of the best artists to fly under the mainstream radar. Hailing from Spain, Juan José Ryp broke into the American market through Avatar Press, contributing heavily to the company's signature brand of no-holds-barred sex and violence, including high-profile collaborations with Steven Grant and Warren Ellis. Since last year, he's drawn Wolverine: The Best There Is for Marvel, bringing his Darrow-esque hyper-detail to a now-trademark mix of high-impact action, gorgeous women, and wild-eyed insanity.

He graciously took time out of his schedule to answer some questions -- in Spanish, which is why we had to bring in Herb Mumford to translate. So thanks, Herb! Anyway, whether you're new to Ryp's work or you're an O.G. since the early days, check after the jump for his thoughts on his technique, career, and just what it's like drawing some of the goriest comics around.

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Buying comics can be an expensive hobby. A lot of fans simply can't afford everything they're interested in, due to rising prices and the over-saturation of the market with superhero titles.

That's why we're here. Every week, the Multiversity staff is asked "What would you buy this week if you couldn't go over $20?" and shares their reasons why, in order to help others who might have similar tastes make their own decisions in buying comics on a budget.

Follow the cut to see everyone's picks for the week.

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We're at the finish line of Artist August, with just two more days left to go. But if you missed the past week, you've missed a ton of talk with some of the absolutely best in the business. Check below to see what you missed, and if interested, click through the links to read the full interview.

Brian Hurtt - The artist of one of our favorite books - The Sixth Gun - chats with us about his and Cullen Bunn's success on their Oni Press series, who else he'd like to work with, his influences, and a ton more.

Caanan Grall - One of our favorite creators around, we talk with Caanan about his Eisner nominated web comic Max Overacts, Muppet Thor, the plusses and minuses of making your own comics, and more.

Scott Kowalchuk - The artist of one of our favorite minis of 2011 (The Intrepids), we talk to Scott about Adam West, how he developed the look of The Intrepids, his next work, and more.

Jeff Lemire - We have an extensive talk with one of our favorite creators, as we talk to Jeff about his DCnU launch books Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE and Animal Man, why he pushes his art in Sweet Tooth in different directions all of the time, why he prefers black-and-white, and more.

Declan Shalvey - The Thunderbolts artists talks to us about working with Jeff Parker, his desire to creat the great Irish graphic novel, working with art blogs Comic Twart and Eclectic Micks, working on covers, and more.

Steve Lieber - One of the nicest guys in comics, we talk with Steve about Periscope Studios, his 4chan presence, dream projects, and a whole lot more.

Tommy Lee Edwards - On our most recent Artist August interview, we talk with the Marvel 1985 and Turf artist about working with Jonathan Ross, what he knows of the Matthew Vaughn production of his and Ross' Golden Age, working with Image Comics, his art studio The BLVD., and more.

Artist August Contest - Do you like awesome prizes from great artists? Sign up for our contest as we give away sketches and signed gear from Charlie Adlard, Rob Gullory, Nick Pitarra and Tradd Moore.

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 Thursday (with perhaps some advances for tomorrow if you're lucky), 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 titles. Whenever you see one of those, it means we think you should be reading it. So keep your eyes open!

Comic list provided by NewburyComics.com

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On Artist August today, we're featuring art superstar Tommy Lee Edwards of Marvel 1985 and Turf fame, and we wanted to make sure that any of you who are unfamiliar with his art became familiar. This guy is a straight up master of his craft, and you can find a bunch of great examples of his work after the jump.

Also, if you haven't yet, check out his site for a bunch more art!

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Fan art by Francesco Francavilla

It's back! After a quite enjoyable mid-season finale that left us with one big answer and even more huge questions, it's time to strap on our bowties, call our Roman bodyguard husbands, and embark on a journey through time and space for the rest of this season of Doctor Who.

So now that we're back, what's going on?

Find out after the jump. Spoilers are discussed.

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If you're not familiar with SkottieScott, you're missing out one of the best art blogs on the internet from two of the best artists in the industry. It comes from Skottie Young, the recently anointed Eisner winner for Best Penciller/Inker, and Scott Morse, the mad man genius behind one of our favorite mini-series from 2010 - Strange Science Fantasy.

It's a fantastic site as it stands, but today they launched something even more exciting: a web comic. I'll let their post do the talking on that:

Welcome to the Big Experiment...here, twice weekly, you'll thrill to the ongoing exploits of Asher and Spittle in their yet-to-be-officially-titled comic by Scott Morse and Skottie Young. We've decided to make a departure here at SkottieScott from the re-imagined character designs you've come to know and love. Instead, we're opting to CREATE. We're opting to OWN. We're opting to contribute to the entertainment spectrum with something original and hopefully a load of fun for everyone. It is for us, anyhow.

Periodically you'll find accompanying anecdotes about the creation of the story and characters, but mostly you'll find the story pages themselves. We're creating these one page at a time with no outline to work from: we're shooting from the hip. This could backfire and destroy comics and the internet itself... or succeed and make the internet a better place and comics the medium of choice for storytellers. Or at the very least make you smile twice weekly.

Asher is Skottie's creation, Spittle is Scott's creation. The rest is a joint effort written and drawn as we see each other's work just days before you do.

Scott's pages will be updated every Monday while Skottie updates his every Friday. So you'll start and end each week with new piece of the adventure.

Oh, and soon you'll see the look of SkottieScott evolve to better suit the comics format we're shooting for. Don't be scared. It's for your own good.

Buckle up.

Aww yeah! This is awesome news. If you're a fan of comics, you have no reason not to bookmark this site now.

This week brings the moment the whole industry has been waiting for: the launch of the DCnU.

Wednesday brings the last issue of Flashpoint as well as the first issue of Justice League from Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, and the beginning of a whole new era of DC Comics that could be a boon or a bastion for the industry. As it stands now, pre-orders are looking strong with Justice League looking at an over 200,000 sales number and six other titles looking to surpass six figures.

But we knew that this reboot would be top heavy, as DC made sure to put top creative teams on their biggest books. That much has paid off so far. But how will the rest of the books pan out and how is fan interest shifting?

Comic Book Resources took a look at that this week, with a second poll of fans asking their interest in the rebooted and newly launched books of the DCU. Their first poll on June 15th gave us a good look at initial interest, but this new poll put us in a position to begin tracking where fan interest is going. For Multiversity 101 this week, I’m going to dig deeper into those numbers, which you can find after the jump.

Also, as CBR points out themselves, none of this is scientific by any means. It’s just fun with numbers!

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On the second segment of this week's 4 Color, Brandon and David get down to reviews, as they look at Wolverine #14 from Jason Aaron and Renato Guedes, Uncanny X-Force #13 from Rick Remender and Mark Brooks, and Kick-Ass 2 #3 from Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. They also constantly reference a review that happened off-camera, as the deadly duo nearly came to blows over Hickman and Esad Ribic's Ultimates #1.

That's right.

Today on Artist August, we have the incredibly talented Tommy Lee Edwards of "Turf" and "Marvel 1985" fame. Edwards' art is some of the most dense and beautiful art in comics, and his ability to bring some of the most imaginative ideas and worlds to life is unparalleled in the industry.

Click through the jump to find out what Tommy thinks of working with Jonathan Ross, how it is working with Image Comics, what the benefits of The BLVD.'s studio are, and a whole lot more.

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Announced by DC at Fan Expo this past weekend, DC plans to bring the JSA back for the new 52 despite initial claims that the group was done. As their blog notes,

There’s been plenty of speculation about the Justice Society in The New 52 – and we can now confirm that they will, in fact, be back! As with everything else with DC Comics – The New 52, however, there’s a significant twist. What is it? We’re not saying. Just. Quite. Yet.

“It’s everything you want, but not what you expect,” promises Eddie Berganza, DC Comics Executive Editor.

That significant twist - which I suppose was not supposed to be revealed - is that the title will be taking place on Earth-2, which confirms the Multiverse is still intact and stays partially true to some of DC's initial Multiverse ideas and origins.

The book, as far as all word of mouth goes, confirms the rumor that James Robinson and Nicola Scott will be working on the book, although the title does not seemingly have any specific timeline to be fit into the new DC continuity.

Look for more information about the resurrection of the JSA and Earth-2 as we find it.

As part of Marvel's CrossGen revival, Marvel will be releasing a new version of the CrossGen series Route 666 in February. The book will be a four-issue mini written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Peter Nguyen, and will be set in the 1950s.

The book follows two US Marshals, Cassie Starkweather and Evan Cisco, tasked with "investigating supernatural events and crimes that happen along the highway." Fans of the series will note that Cassie was the star of the original title, and she will retain her abilities to detect supernatural evil. Now she will be sharing the spotlight with Cisco, whom she is the deputy of. The book will also be set in "our" world instead of an alternate Earth like the original CrossGen. The title will feature a strong Americana influence, as well as act as a period piece, and Aguirre-Sacasa compares the mini to the film Frailty or the television show Supernatural.

Aguirre-Sacasa notes that he has further plans he would like to do for the series, so if the original mini sells well expect to see more from the world of CrossGen. Look for this title in February.

(via source)

No, not THAT Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

As part of Marvel's CrossGen revival, Marvel will be releasing a new version of the 2004 series Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in December. The book will be a four-issue mini written by Peter Milligan with art by Roman Rosanas that revamps the title for the modern age.

The story is about a young man named Alan McGrath who works for MI6 who has to take on a new identity as the new Charles Kiss (think of it as if you had the opportunity to become 007). The real Charles Kiss was a hero for McGrath, and McGrath is left debating if he can live up to the lofty pressure of his heroes ideals. The book will be somewhat of a mild reflection of what people expect from recent Bond films with exotic locations and action sequences that, if they were to film, would cost a small fortune, although Milligan notes that there is no direct era of Bond films that he directly plays off of and instead notes novelist John Le Carre and the James Bond books as an influence (although the films do play a part for the inspiration of widescreen action).

Look for this title in December.

(via source)

Announced at the Pint O' CB panel at Fan Expo, Marvel announced Destroyers, a new five-issue miniseries by Fred Van Lente and Kyle Hotz. The book will focus on this new group of characters (who take their name from the WW2 hero known as the Destroyer) who have to solve a million year old puzzle, and draws heavily from Jack Kirby's work with Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy fighting the Deviants/

The book will focus on a group of monstrous heroes in the Marvel U, all featured in the image provided here. The impetus of the book came with the end of Greg Pak's Incredible Hulks run, which would leave A-Bomb and She-Hulk stranded with no new place in the Marvel U (although A-Bomb does make appearances in Hulk by Jeff Parker now and then). Following the initial idea, Thing, Beast and Karkas were brought in as well to help turn this into a team book. The book will also feature Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy, Rick Jones' wife Marlo Chandler aka the new Harpy, as well as appearances by "a certain Canadian female" near and dear to FvL as well as "an aquatic monster."

Ultimately described as "Indiana Jones meets Godzilla meets that Thing cartoon where the kid had the rings that turned him into the Thing," Van Lente also notes that if this book gets the same treatment that Alpha Flight did, he is more than happy to write more adventures of the team, so get your pre-orders in now.

(via source)

On the first part of this week's 4 Color News and Brews, Brandon and David take a look at the news of the week. They touch on MORE X-Men teasers, the impressive distribution numbers of the DCnU books and the villain of the first Justice League arc, all the while filling the airwaves with their typical brand of utter nonsense.

If you didn't already know, today would have been Jack Kirby's 94th birthday. Not only did Kirby create many of the characters that we know and love today, he was also one of the most stylistically influential comic artists -- some might argue the most influential. As such, as we've been celebrating August by featuring some of the finest artists in the industry, we would be remiss to not celebrate the work he who might be considered the greatest. Follow the cut for some of my favorite Kirby illustrations, and I invite you to share some of your favorites in the comments.

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Welcome to Matthew's Got You Covered! In this week's episode, I pick covers for titles I normally wouldn't by artists I admit to not always loving, with three #1s and two finales! Wow. It's like some kind of cosmic force is setting this up to fit a specific design where no middle issues are allowed, or something like that. I dunno. That sounds like crazy talk.
Click past the cut to look at pretty pictures and watch me try and talk about them eloquently.

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Thanks to positive sales figures, Alpha Flight - currently an 8-issue mini by Greg Pak, Fred van Lente, and Dale Eaglesham - is now an ongoing (as confirmed on Ryan Penagos' twitter). The book, which has spun out of the events of Fear Itself, has received favorable reviews and has been requested for by fans for several years, especially after the team died in New Avengers right after House of M. Now it appears that the team is back and with a vengeance, and where better to announce the ongoing nature of the book than FanExpo in Canada?

Fans of Nick Spencer and Emma Rios' Cloak and Dagger? Take note.

Congrats to the entire team of the book, and we're all greatly looking forward to what is to come in the future.

Announced today at FanExpo in Toronto, it looks like Brian Wood is coming to Marvel to do some projects after recently ending his exclusive contract with DC. Wood had been teasing some new for-hire work for quite some time now, so its exciting as fans to hear announcements of where he is ending up.

The last time Wood worked for Marvel was with Warren Ellis on the Counter X arc for Generation X, which he then stayed on until the series was cancelled. With Wood's new project it looks to still be somehow X-Men related, with the image forming an X out of scratch marks from Wolverine's claws. Could this mean that Wood will be taking over on the Wolverine title from Jason Aaron - either one of them? Only time will tell.

Look for more news as we find it out.

Want to keep up with the ever-advancing continuity porn of the DC and Marvel universes, but simply don't have the time or money to buy every ongoing? We're here to help. The Weekend Week In Review aims to give you ((usually) very) brief synopses of what happened in a select few of DC and Marvel's titles — with a helping of sarcastic commentary — so that when some nasty old writer wants to punish you by heavily referencing a title you didn't pick up, you won't be left in the dark. Of course, that means that spoilers are in abundance after the cut, but I figure that you could figure that out.

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To follow-up on our earlier interview piece, we'd now like to take a moment of your time to share some of Steve Lieber's work. Additionally, if you would like to check out some of his comics (such as Underground), you can download a few books entirely DRM free at SteveLieber.com. Be sure to give them a read and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Check behind the cut for some hardcore proof of Lieber's skill.

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One of our personal favorites and arguably one of the nicest guys we've ever talked to, Steve Lieber is a painfully underrated artist. Sporting an immense amount of talent and having an incredibly important career within the medium, Lieber now heads up Periscope Studios (one of the most prolific and important comic studios around) and remains an important figure in the Portland comic scene.

Check behind the cut for our chat with Lieber on his artist history, creator owned versus for hire work and more!

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After a spot of controversial remarks from Marko Djurdjevic last night at Fan Expo in Canada, it looks like the comic book internet is immediately revving into action, with Mark Waid being Mark Waid and Rob Liefeld revealing that he is working on a book on with Duane Swierczynski, who was a recipient of some of Djurdjevic's wrath.

Not much is known about what Liefeld is talking about, though. A Deadpool/X-Force series? Like Uncanny X-Force? That seems unlikely given Remender's run on the book, which assumedly won't let up any time soon. Then again, with Cable coming back soon and Liefeld's obvious connection to both Deadpool and Cable, it is possible that there will be a reactionary follow-up book to the already announced Cable Reborn from Loeb and McGuinness, which Swierczynski and Liefeld could be working on together. Considering Swierczynski's past run on Cable, I'd put dollars to donuts that this is some kind of Deadpool/Cable thing, like the eponymous series of 2004.

This would mark the first collaboration for the two, and would be the third book that Liefeld is illustrating along with the Infinite from Image and Hawk and Dove from DC.

As far as the Killraven remark goes, I can only assume this is in reference to the aborted Killraven mini that Liefeld was working on with Robert Kirkman in 2007, although if Liefeld is already drawing it then I would assume it probably won't go the way of Killraven considering that never went into production.

Written by Grant Morrison
Illustrated by Scott Clark

When Waynetech's launch of Interworld is plagued by a series of "virtual murders," Batman teams up with Oracle to hunt down the culprit in a simulated environment that's slowly collapsing into post-apocalyptic zombie-haunted chaos. A computer-generated Batman adventure that brings Dark Knight justice to a wild new frontier, to face a new and virulent menace. In a world of numbers, does everything have a price?

Blah blah Batman blah blah Grant Morrison blah blah 3D blah blah excellent blah blah prologue paragraph actual review after the blah.

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It’s time for your weekly look at the cream of the crop of digital releases. I’m writing this on the train to Fanexpo so I’m glad it seems to be a pretty light week. Next week we have the first of DC’s relaunch books so I’m going to enjoy this calm before the storm. First up, here’s the list of stuff that came out the same-day as print: we’ve got the last of the DC Retroactives, this time the 90s (DC), Ultimate Comics Ultimates #1 (Marvel), Kevin Smith’s Bionic Man #1 (Dynamite), Spontaneous #3 (Oni), Superman Beyond #0 (DC), Young Justice #7 (DC), Captain Action: King Size Special (Moonstone). Some big names out this week, and as usual all those books are out on Comixology, now let’s see what made the cut this week.

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As a follow-up to our interview with rising star artist Declan Shalvey, we've got a special feature: Declan walking us through the process of creating one of our favorite pages from a recent issue of Thunderbolts (#160 to be exact). This page depicts Ghost's assault on the hammer powered Juggernaut's mind, as the team attempts to wrest control back into Cain Marko's hands. It's a unique and very well executed page, and one that shows off the talent Shalvey has an as artist.

Click past the jump to see this art process piece, in Declan's words himself.

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This week on the Friday Recommendation, I’m taking a moment to provide a counterpoint to an article that was posted in this very same column last week from our EIC Matt, who suggested the new run of Daredevil wasn’t very good, and you should check out something else from the same character. While that is a very fair assessment, I disagree, and if you give me a chance, will tell you why I think you should read it.

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Today on Artist August, we've got another rising star artist, as we talk with Declan Shalvey (Thunderbolts, 28 Days Later). While Declan has really only been working at the major comic publishers for the past few years, he's been making his presence felt thanks to his versatility and his keen eye for design (see: our art process piece we have with him in an hour), amongst other gifts. Plus, his efforts on art blogs like Comic Twart and Eclectic Micks have quickly made him a favorite amongst the comic community as well.

Today, we talk with Declan about how he got started with Marvel, the truth about Jeff Parker, his thoughts on telling "the great Irish graphic novel," who he'd like to work with, and a whole lot more. Check it out after the jump.

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Written by Greg Rucka
Illustrated by Marco Checchetto

Hunting for the villains behind the Wedding Day massacre, The Punisher will leave no body unturned! With Detectives Bolt and Clemons on his tail, the massacre’s only survivor will seek the Punisher’s aid...which might be the worst of all possible choices.

I'm kind of sad there was no Punisher '90s cartoon. Sure, he showed up in Spider-Man, but I imagine that it would be pretty amusing if he had a cartoon about him being a hero with a catchy theme song. "Punisherrrr - he's going to punish some bad guys! You won't believe your eyes! Here comes the Puh-Nish-Errrr!"

None of that has anything to do with anything, though.

Check after the cut for some thoughts on pertinent Punisher-related stuff.

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Written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis
Illustrated by Kevin Maguire

It's time to "Bwah Ha Ha" all over again as this classic JLA team tells a lost tale from one of the JLA's most popular eras. The Injustice Gang is back! Not the truly menacing, more recent incarnation, but their not-so competent predecessors. Still, when they stumble upon a device they should never be allowed to have, the results might prove more disastrous than if they actually knew what they were doing! A previously released story from the era rounds out the issue.

The legendary team of Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire reunite (again!) to recall the glory days of their celebrated Justice League International run. Do they bring back the Bwah-ha-ha as promised, or is this just a lazy attempt at nostalgia pandering? You know where to find the answers.

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In today's Artist August interview, we've got a chat with one of the absolutely best newcomers to comics over the past decade. That creator? Jeff Lemire, of Essex County and Sweet Tooth fame. Lemire is a gifted writer and artist, having honed his craft over the past few years with critically beloved works for Top Shelf and Vertigo, and with the upcoming DCnU launch his star will rise even higher. He will be writing two books - Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE and Animal Man - and we can assure you, the greatness you'll get from those books are just the tip of the iceberg from Lemire.

Click through the jump as we talk with Lemire about his collaborators on his DCnU books, meeting Grant Morrison for the first time, why he continues to push his art on Sweet Tooth, how he manages such a huge workload, his adventures with coloring his own art, and whole lot more.

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As the final piece of their marketing blitz, DC has released on their blog a series of 52 quotes pulled from their 52 titles, all of which "set up the themes of their corresponding series, hint at the unexpected return of fan-favorite characters and allude to significant changes."

All the quotes are below, as well as a few of our guesses in italics as to what books they correspond to. Let us know in the comments which quotes you think belong to which book, and we'll update the post accordingly!

“If you’re not moving, you’re not living.” The Flash

“If we stop looking to the present and the past, and instead we look to the future…if we ask ourselves what can be–what it will be tomorrow… then we’re asking the right question. Because to hope, to dream, to predict is to shape the city yourself, rather than to be shaped by it.”

“Maybe this is all connected to that guy in Metropolis.”

“You think you and your ‘army’ stand a chance against Superman and a half dozen Green Lanterns and Wonder Woman?” Justice League?

“They ended the revolution and freed our country. Then they disappeared.”

“Do we look like ‘super-heroes’? We’re the professionals.” Justice League Dark or Stormwatch

“He’s the worst kind of killer. One with no true pattern.” Batman

“Hee…That’s so cute. You think you’re scary. But mister, I’ve seen scary. And you ain’t got his smile.” One of the Gotham books, something with some relation to the Joker

“What I do, I do for the good of the universe. Something you lost sight of thousands of years ago.”

“I’m losing control.”

“We don’t… We don’t call it that. It could be the key to all human knowledge. Black holes. Time travel. Physics, on another level.”

“What I want is your complete attention and for you to understand that your life is now mine.”

“You are not the first doctor I’ve known that tried to play god.”

“Flashpoint effect has definitely closed off time travel.” Justice League International

“I’ve always enjoyed your sense of humor, Booster.” The more obvious Justice League International

“He makes a sound like a supersonic bomber. And then it looks like his shadow itself turns against him.”

“How’s it feel to be nobody’s favorite super-hero?” Aquaman (I kid, I kid)

“I remember a time when you would have begged me to stop playing superhero!”

“Maybe I was never a good guy, and maybe I was never the really big fish. But if there’s one thing I do know from living other’s people’s lives, it’s that I’ve changed.”

“How long have I been here? How long have I been frozen like this?”

“I always thought you could change the world, Michael.”

“Some people don’t like having their secrets exposed.”

“The only reason I’m here is ’cause if anything happens to you–that would make me the worst former sidekick ever.” Nightwing

“You think I need a ‘team?’”

“You could do so much good! WE could do so much good!”

“Good to see you, Barbara.” Batgirl

“Nature sounds its own warning bell.” Animal Man

“Welcome to Cellblock D of the Central Asian Supermax Meta-Human Facility.” Suicide Squad

“I thought I’d left that world behind me. That maybe I could do more good working from the shadows. Apparently, I was wrong. I’m going to need help.” Something related to Batman, possibly Batwing
“You’re Welcome, my friend. And New York City, you’re welcome too!”

“If that scarab pops back up, I want any Green Lanterns within five parsecs to know it.” Green Lantern Corps

“You’ve been partners with this guy for a couple of years, and you still haven’t told him where you really came from?”

“A bunch of Lanterns have just died in sector 3599.” Green Lantern

“We are too late.”

“Because the entire time THEY have been studying ME? I have been studying THEM.” Superboy

“This time it spells trouble.”

“I swear to God I don’t know nothin’ about the Gotham Butcher.” Detective Comics

“You’re just in time for your destiny.”

“Miles? Why, my beautiful girls…. You can see forever.”

“People are goin’ nuts. Wait ‘til they watch us kill him.”

“Oh, God. Oh, God. I just murdered someone!”

“You are the parent of your own fear.”

“Kyle Rayner of Earth, you have been chosen.” Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors

“You’re not my partner, you’re my son.” Batman and Robin

“Find out who is under that mask.”

“For this great mission I will need help. I will need followers who are prepared to follow me into the jaws of death, and worse…”

“You’ll have my undivided attention… And I’m pretty sure I’ll have yours.”

“Just when I’ve set up my new life, my old one comes back. Well played, Gotham.” Catwoman

“I didn’t even know how much I missed it.”

“The dream isn’t over.”

“The future is being re-made.”

“Life isn’t without risk. You hear that bon mot a lot. But mostly around business. Or dating. Or eating fried food from street vendors. But we take risks all the time, every day, in a thousand ways. Driving a car. Talking to a stranger. Jay walking. Those are the little ones we don’t even think about. It’s the big ones that make it interesting. At least for me, it is.”