Author: Stephen Schleicher

Image Comics has sent Major Spoilers cover images and text descriptions for titles shipping December 2006. Spawn/Batman looks like it will be a good one. Would really like to get my hands on the Complete Invincible Library Volume 1 hard cover – but yikes, $175! Click the thumbnails for larger images. SPAWN/BATMAN story TODD MCFARLANE art TODD MCFARLANE & GREG CAPULLO covers TODD MCFARLANE 56 PAGES – FC – DECEMBER 28 – $5.99 It’s been over a decade since their first meeting. The Dark Knight and the even darker one. But this time is perhaps the most dangerous meeting of…

Jon Favreau has posted a picture at his MySpace page of himself and producer Peter Billingsley with lots and lots of guns. Yes, Peter is holding a Red Rider BB gun in the shot. Jon claims he’s doing research, but he looks pretty…’hem…uh… wasted in the shot. Is he trying to find his own inner-Stark, or just having one of those bad picture moments? Gotta love it… via Jon Favreau MySpace page (link)

I’ve just started reading Rex Mundi and it is pretty interesting. The story is set in Paris, where magic is real and the Catholic Church never lost its grip on power. Apparently the characters and stories presented in the graphic novels was enough to attrack the attention of one Johnny Depp who will star and produce the film through his Infinitum Nihil productoin company. Scribe Jim Uhls, who wrote the screenplay for Fight Club will write the screenplay based on the comic book. “It’s a noir-ish ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ ” Uhls says. “There are murders and a mystery,…

Viper Comics has announced they will now be accepting open submissions for a webcomic to join the company’s existing strips You’ll Have That and The Horrible Pirates.“Viper is always on the lookout for the newest talent in comics and hopefully this opportunity will allow us to showcase a great unknown to a world-wide audience,” said Viper President Jessie Garza. Creators will need to provide sample pages/strips of their webcomic (with finished art) and a full pitch regarding the characters and content. Only submissions from complete creative teams will be accepted. All submissions should be sent to info@vipercomics.com . The chosen…

I’m a huge fan of Wapsi Square by writer/artist Paul Taylor. I came across the online comic about three years ago, and have been hooked ever since. Great deep plot lines, interesting characters, and wonderful fun art. Recently Paul and his wife had a baby boy. That’s the good news. The bad news, he was born a month premature and has had several complications that require extended hospital stays. Extended stays mean high medical bills. To help out Blank Label Comics is announcing a fund raiser to help the Taylor family out. Several BLC members and friends are auctioning off…

Marvel Comics has sent us cover images and descriptions for titles shipping December 2006. Take a peak and get to ordering as there are a lot of good issues shipping in the months ahead. As always click the thumbnail images for larger view. DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN SKETCHBOOK Pencils & Cover by JAE LEE THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN is two short months away. Get a first look at the most eagerly anticipated comics release ever in this exclusive sketchbook featuring character designs, penciled pages, commentary, and a primer on the world of the Dark Tower. Best of…

If you have ever wanted to know what an artist goes through when creating a cover image? Mike Deodato Jr. shared several steps his covers go through on the way to completion. In this installment we have a thumbnail, black and white inks for the cover, and the final cover itself. I tried to experiment a looser way of inking it, using markers instead of brushes and pens in order to get the feeling of a penciled cover, you know, the energy and the movement that generally gets lost during the process of inking it. I think I was successful.

Here is the New Comic Release list for comics scheduled to be in stores September 20, 2006. There may be items on this list that are not shipped at the last minute, or new material may be added. Check with your local retailer for more details. Thanks to Collector’s Pair of Dice for assisting in the building of this list.This list was last updated September 18, 2006.

Diamond Comics has released the sales figures for items shipping in August 2006.  Marvel Comics took the top once again with 36.30% of the dollar share, with DC close behind at 35.39%.  We also have the Top 300 Comics for the month.

Batman-on-Film is reporting on the scuttlebutt that is Harvey Dent. Apparently Liev Schreiber is out as the District Attorny in the upcoming Dark Knight film. So who is being considered? According to the site, Guy Pearce (who worked with Nolan on Memento) is under consideration. Lots of back and forth on this. If done right, whoever gets the nod, could end up with a lucritive multi-film deal for years to come. So who do you want? Schreiber, Pearce, or someone else? Holla in the comments. via Batman-on-Film (link)

I’ve got someone on the inside who is working on both the Transformers and Jon Favreau’s upcoming Iron Man movies. He’s sworn to secrecy, but we do know the following image is not what Tony Stark’s armour will look like in the Iron Man flick. Kind of look like a cross between Power Rangers and Ultraman. This design was created by Brandon Perlow, who has done some TV and film graphics work. Looks pretty cool to me. You can find more of Brandon’s work at his website. via Screen Rant (link)

All-Ages Comic Book Site Brings Family Friendly Resources to the Web FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: While attending a literacy seminar in October of 2005, school teacher Scott Tingley became interested in using comic books as a tool for teaching literacy to school age children. Taking this new motivation to the streets, Tingley visited local comic shops and elicited donations of appropriate comics for a few schools in his district. Although this met with great success, Tingley still felt compelled to do more.

I’m a big fan of stop motion animation; pose the figure, take a snap, adjust the figure, take a snap, and so on. Lego had a stop motion set about 7 years ago using Marvel’s Spider-Man characters, but that was quite pricey. Jazwares has released their own stop motion package called Marvel Heroes Ani-Movie. Aimed at kids this $59.99 package contains several backgrounds and four flat cardboard figures (Spider-Man, Hulk, Green Goblin, and Dr. Doom). Cardboard? Come on, gimme a break, this thing will last all of 20 minutes before Bobby and Susie get in a fight and rip the…

(Press Release) September 18, 2006, Hollywood, CA – Ancient and illuminated, the deck slowly scattered. What remained was eventually housed by the British Museum to lay under a thin film of dust, seen by thousands but discovered by only one, Frank Beddor, author of The Looking Glass Wars. After tracking down the full deck, Beddor was able to write his shocking exposé of the true story of Wonderland. But still, he remained haunted by the cards.