Press Release Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced today that Phil Hester, the current writer for The Darkness, will take over artistic duties on the series for “Bog,” a special two-part story which he has also written.  “Bog” begins in The Darkness #80 which is solicited for a September 2009 release and will conclude the following month in The Darkness #81.

Press Release Over the past several years, Archie Comics has delighted comic shop customers with exclusive giveaway comics produced in conjunction with Diamond Distribution.  In addition to Archie’s involvement in Diamond’s annual Free Comic Book Day program, Archie has also served up thrills and chills come Halloween-time.  These full-color, 16-page, Halloween-themed comics have all-new stories and art and make the perfect “treat” for the goody bags of costumed revelers. This year, Archie Comics is back with another fun-filled giveaway issue.  Betty’s most confidential secrets are the focus in this tale that highlights Betty’s fabled Diary.  Popular writer-penciler Dan Parent unravels

Ty Romsa delivers and awesome looking image of Flash Gordon in action, so how could I pass this one up for our Pulp Hero Art Appreciation Week? It was surprisingly difficult to find any reference for this character, especially in color! I’m pretty happy with the final result! Hope you all love it! Pencil (traditional) inks (traditional) Then Painter IX I know that it dosen’t make any sense for these character’s to be floating, ALIVE, in outer space, but hey…it’s Flash Gordon Trust me, you’ll want to head over to his Deviant Art page and check out his Wonder Woman

There have always been epic battles waged for the fate of the world, and today’s Art Appreciation Moment comes from Mark Brooks featuring characters the Rival Schools characters from Capcom and Udon’s Darkstalkers.

If you pay close attention to the net, and you have some super great readers who send you e-mail about all sorts of goodness, then you’ll eventually dig up some juicy gems – like these pages from Boom! Studios’ upcoming Incredibles series. BOOM was kind enough to let me post a few pages from the Incredibles book I’ve been working on thanks, Paul first issue will be out in March 09 I’ve been told… so buy that so yeah, this is page 2 and 3. story: Mark Waid pencil and inks: Marcio Takara (me!) awesome colors: Andrew Dalhouse See ’em

I fell in love with Skottie Young’s art styling a while ago, so when I saw he was working on Marvel’s take on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I had to pick up a copy.  Issue #2 arrives next week, and Marvel has provided Major Spoilers with a sneak peek where readers discover the origins of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.

This week finds Marvel releasing the fourth issue of the third installment of the Marvel Zombies saga.  This series finds the undead heroes and villains finding a gateway to the Marvel 616 universe, and if I were to guess, nothing will ever be the same…again! Take the jump for a sneak peek of the issue directly from the House of Ideas.

This past weekend, Steve Rude sent out an update on the status of his Nexus series. Nexus 101 is completed and Nexus 102 is awaiting a final script.  Pencils are completed.  Once the inks are completed the book will go into solicitation.  At this point we anticipate being able to give all the solicitation information to Diamond in January which would be for March Previews and a May release date. It’s been forever since we read and reviewed Nexus 100, and now May can’t come fast enough. via Steve Rude

What better way to prepare yourself for 2009, than with good fun from Archie and his friends.  Archie Comics has sent Major Spoilers the cover images and solicitation information for titles arriving in January 2009.

Mike Deodato Jr. sent along some of the work he is doing in the upcoming Wolverine: Roar that arrives in September.  Take the jump to see the inks, and the colored pages done by Val Staples.

One of the best comics going around at the moment is Wolverine First Class. It is a telling of how the close relationship that Kitty and Logan have evolved, from Kitty’s first days at the Xavier School. It’s funny, it’s cute, and above all, it gives you the insight in to their relationship it promises. However the sales are not justifying its quality, with only 22,000 sold for issue 3. It’s a pity, because it is a book I want to continue reading.

One of the best comic series of the past decade or more is, undoubtedly, Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon and penciled by John Cassaday. Together they created one of the most comprehensive, cohesive and controlled pieces of comic literature we’ve seen in a long time. Whedon’s story was breathtaking, and Cassiday’s art was better. So let’s see how long it takes before it all comes crashing down. Why? Because Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi are now on the book and they aren’t no Whedon and Cassaday.

Archie Comics has gotten a lot of publicity with its realistic interpretations of the Archie gang, and the latest installment to get this treatment is Pals-n-Gals Double Digest #125, that features the break up of Midge and Moose – and you aren’t going to believe who Midge is dating.

I became a fan of X-Factor late last year, and have been in love ever since. To be fair, it’s pretty much just a giant man-crush on Jamie Madrox, but there is nothing too shabby about Siren either, a character that I really do like. However, the reason I continue to keep reading X-Factor – primarily – is to see when in hells bells Layla Miller will return. And to anyone who wants to cry “Marvel continuity sucks” at me for her appearance in Secret Invasion, give me a break; it was a flash-back!