Titled “Proof of Heroes,” the exhibit at Bear & Bird Boutique + Gallery will feature nearly 300 comic book cover printer’s proofs from 1964 to 1974. These printer’s proofs were sent to Schwartz for final approval before going to press, and features artwork from such comics legends as Nick Cardy, Neal Adams, Mike Kaluta and Carmine Infantino. The exhibit is set to run from Jan. 20 to March 3 at Bear & Bird’s Lauderhill, Florida, location, just above the comic store Tate’s. On Jan. 21, DC icons Paul Levitz, George Perez and Alex Saviuk will be on hand from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for a signing, followed by a reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The printer’s proofs will be available for just $100 each (certificate of authenticity included). All proceeds benefit The Hero Initiative.

Justice League #1

Publishing | Four months in, the DC Comics relaunch seems to be a success. The most recent sales figures show Justice League #1 selling more than 360,000 copies since August, and Batman #1 and Action Comics #1 selling more than 250,000. By contrast, Marvel’s strongest seller was Ultimate Spider-Man #160, which was in the 160,000-copy neighborhood. These figures seem to reflect sales in the direct market only; it would be interesting to see how many digital copies have been sold. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Awards | Nominations are open for this year’s Eagle Awards. [Eagle Awards]

Retailing | San Francisco retailer Brian Hibbs shares the top-selling graphic novels in his store for 2011, by units and by dollars. [Savage Critics]

Retailing | Christopher Butcher looks back on the events of the past year in the comics store he manages, Toronto’s The Beguiling. [The Beguiling blog]

Commentary | Mike Gold explains why the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a terrible idea. [ComicMix]

Comics | Enough with the best-of lists: Ron Richards presents his lovingly compiled list of the worst things in comics in 2011. His No. 1 point stands in stark contrast to The Hollywood Reporter piece: Overall, sales are dropping. [iFanboy]

Gingerbread Girl

Comics | Tom Spurgeon continues his holiday interview series, talking to Rina Piccolo, Steve Bissette, Colleen Coover, Todd DePastino and Robot 6′s own Chris Mautner. [The Comics Reporter]

Comics | The Houston Chronicle covers the arrival of its own local superhero, the Scarlet Spider. [Houston Chronicle]

Publishing | Jim Shooter recounts his time at Broadway Comics, as well as dealings he had with the World Wrestling Federation when Valiant had the rights to produce wrestling comics: “VALIANT, as you may know, was forced into a license to do WWF comics by my corrupt partner Steve Massarsky, who represented both Leisure Concepts International (the WWF’s licensing agency) and VALIANT. Can you say ‘conflict of interest?’ Massarsky made a ton of money personally by making a deal with himself with utter disregard for what made sense for VALIANT, and I was stuck with actually producing WWF comics.” [Jim Shooter]

Creators | Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner profile Legion of Super-Heroes writer and former DC Comics president and publisher Paul Levitz. [Graphic NYC]

Brilliant #1

Creators | This profile of Mark Bagley covers his entry into comics and his collaborations with Brian Michael Bendis on Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble and their own Brilliant. [Creative Loafing]

Creators | Ron Marz reports he raised $500 last month for Toys for Tots by selling signed comics to fans. [Messages from Marz]

Creators | Guest-blogging for Whitney Matheson, Grace Bello interviews Tony Millionaire. [Pop Candy]

Creators | Kurtis Wiebe discusses Green Wake, The Intrepids and his new series Peter Panzerfaust. [The Outhouse]

Craft | Colorist Matt Wilson explains how he went about coloring a page of Wonder Woman #4 that presented some challenges. [SeeEmWhyKay, via Blog@Newsarama]

Commentary | Filmmaker and blogger Becki Burrows interviews Paul Gravett, author of many books on comics and graphic novels, most recently, 1001 Comics to Read Before You Die. [Paul Gravett]

Commentary | David Uzumeri makes the case for why The Flash is “the most visually inventive book of the [DC Comics] relaunch”: “The first hint of this came when DC began promoting the first issue’s title page the promotional rounds, an absolutely gorgeous piece of work that integrated the design sense of the logo into not only the artwork but the actual storytelling. Manapul drew Barry Allen disarming an army of mysterious sci-fi marines in a breathtaking clockwise sequence that was immediately readable despite its complexity, guiding the eye in a circle across a sequence where the Flash basically hands all of these dudes their butts in a series of small panels within the letters of his own name. Then it kept getting better.” [ComicsAlliance]

Commentary | Sean Kleefeld examines the world view of One Piece and wonders if some of the folks at the Occupy protests were there because of Luffy and the Straw Hats. [Kleefeld on Comics]

Review | Rob Clough reads Seth’s The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists. [The Comics Journal]

Green Lantern #3

Hey kids, it’s time once again for What Are You Reading?, a weekly look into the reading habits of your Robot 6 bloggers. This week our special guest is Rik Offenberger, comics journalist and public relations coordinator for Archie Comics.

To see what Rik and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.

*****

Brigid Alverson

This week’s reading included two totally different comics about young men haunted by their father’s work-related deaths, which is an odd coincidence because they are otherwise totally different stories.

Spontaneous

I had been reading the single issues of Joe Harris and Brett Weldele’s Spontaneous, but I sort of dropped off in the middle, so this weekend I went back and read all five issues, the entire story arc. It’s a great supernatural thriller about a young man and a slightly wacky investigative reporter tracking down the cause of multiple cases of spontaneous human combustion in a small town. The young man, Melvin, is driven by the memory of his own father exploding into flames before his eyes. The story stretches credibility a bit in places but also includes some good twists, and the pacing is perfect. I am also a huge fan of Weldele’s atmospheric, watercolor-styled art, which is perfect for a story like this. (You can read the whole first issue at Robot 6.)

Saturn Apartments is a sci-fi manga about a window washer in a huge ring-shaped apartment colony that circles the earth like the rings of Saturn. It’s located in the stratosphere, 35,000 feet up, so it’s not in outer space–the earth is right there, but no one lives there any more. Mitsu is the son of a window washer who disappeared while working on the lower side (the earth side), and when he starts at the same job, he wonders if his father wasn’t just trying to get to home to earth–but his first gig is in the exact same spot where his father disappeared, and that first-hand encounter changes his thinking. Saturn Apartments is your basic workplace manga in a sci-fi setting, and the entertainment in this book comes both from the technology and the personalities, especially the customers who’s windows Mitsu cleans. The ring-shaped complex is literally stratified: Wealthier people live in the upper levels, with access to natural light, while the lower class lives at the bottom of the ring in crowded, dark streets. The lack of natural light weakens their immune systems and makes them sickly. Creator Hisae Iwaoka uses this as a structural element in the story but doesn’t get too heavy-handed with it.

Tim O’Shea

Batman: The Brave & The Bold #13

Batman: The Brave & The Bold #13: Once Grant Morrison has praised someone’s writing and picked them to write a Steel back-up for his ongoing Action title, one would think it would be a good time to notice the creator. I’d already been enjoying writer Sholly Fisch’s run to date, but this month’s Calling All Robins may be the writer’s best issue to date. His ability to capture the voices of the various Robins, through the myriad incarnation (plus one Nightwing) of the character is uncanny. Rich Burchett’s prowess at capturing the characters’ look (no easy fit) is the icing on the cake.

Batman & Robin #3: Not sure which I like more in this series; Bruce Wayne as father figure, or Alfred as the grandpa (with espionage savvy). One thing that threw me with Peter Tomasi’s writing in this issue, I think he may have had Daddy Batman use Child (Assassin) Robin as bait in a trap. An odd thing for a father to do to a son, even when it’s Batman.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos Essentials Volume 1: I don’t know if it was intentional on the part of Marvel to release this Essentials volume on the same week of Veterans Day, but if not that’s one great coincidence. As much as everyone enjoys Jack Kirby’s art in some of this issues #1-23 collection (plus one annual), I really gained a newfound appreciation for Dick Ayers on this project. One funny quirk, the fact that Stan Lee named a story named “An Eye for An Eye” (issue #19) in which the then two-eyed Nick Fury…does not lose his eye.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #3: I would strongly recommend this book were it not for Jeff Lemire’s annoying narration crutch of S.H.A.D.E.NET (the computer program that runs operations and is seemingly technologically omnipotent or something). The monsters in this issue drawn by Alberto Ponticelli are a reason to check out the book, though. And I hope one day that they can get Arthur Adams (is he Marvel exclusive?) to draw a guest arc.

Black Panther #525: I normally would be overjoyed to have Shawn Martinbrough on art (working with David Liss’ strong script). And while I was quite happy to see him on this assignment, it seems like his art was too rushed in certain points. In fact toward the end of the story, a villain is introduced and I had to re-read the pages, as it appeared a page of the story was missing. But honestly as much as I am displeased by the quality of Martinbrough’s art, on his worst day, the artist outperforms 85 percent of current mainstream artists. And his noir approach is picture perfect, in a general sense, for this series.

Battle Scars #1: As little interest as I had for the Fear Itself event, I was pleasantly surprised by the basic premise of this limited series (Military veteran who is sought after by villains and protected by heroes). But I wonder how much we will see of series like this, given that editor Alejandro Arbona was recently let go by Marvel. Time will tell.

Rik Offenberger

Jughead Double Digest #175

Jughead Double Digest #175: Jughead is always good for a laugh, and this issue is no exception. Jughead is featured as his super hero alter ego Captain Hero. Which is the best name a comedy hero ever came up with. He is join in his super hero adventure by Big Ethel, who has been looking for any way to team up with Jughead since before I was born. Its both fun and funny, it’s everything you want from a comic book. Pal’s and Paws is the following story and I don’t know what Hotdog is such a good foil for Jughead. It’s hard to do animal stories in comics but Hotdog has always been able to bridge the gap between funny animal stories and strait comedy stories. The double digest is the greatest value in comics with more comic pages per dollar then any other format. The balance of the digest is filled with Jughead tales spanning the generations. If you are a new fan then all the stories are new to you, but if you are a long time fan you get to re-experience your childhood love of Jughead as the classic tales cover every decade.

Mega Man #7: Mega Man is a video game-inspired comic that is so good you don’t have to have played the game to enjoy it. However if you are a gamer, Mega Man follows the game closely and adds depth and enjoyment to the game you already love. In this issue Mega Man searches for his kidnapped sister. Clues to clear Dr. Light’s name is coming up empty. Dr. Wily is still at large. Maybe Mega Man can save the day with the help of the six Robot Masters, or are the robots wandering right into Dr. Wily’s latest trap? It’s the mixture of both fun and excitement that Ian Flynn delvers better then anyone else.

Green Lantern #3: Green Lantern was never one of my favorite characters, but it is one of the best comics on the rack. Geoff Johns’ have overcome my concerns about a character who only had to think about what he wanted and his ring would do it for him. Hal Jordan has been put through his paces from one set of personal torture to another. Currently he has been stripped of his ring and finds his non-super life is a total mess. His greatest nemesis, Sinestro has offered Hal his powers back and Hal has to answer to Sinestro. However it’s not entirely clear that Hal will survive the experience. To make matters worse, the Guardians of the Universe, who give Green Lantern’s their powers, are now considering pulling the plug on the entire corps and starting over.

Huntress

Huntress #2: I have been a Huntress fan since she first appeared in DC Super Stars. She started as the daughter of Batman and Catwoman, and after the first Crisis she became Helena Bertinelli, a girl whose family was killed by mafia rivals. She has always been a character who could stand up to Batman without flinching. In the current story, Huntress creator Paul Levitz tells a compelling story of Helena Bertinelli’s trip to Naples, where she ends up fighting the mafia to save young girls from a prostitution ring. It’s a full blown, hard core kick ass adventure that should please any comic readers and on top of it all, Marcus To’s art is outstanding.

FemForce #157: FemForce is the first all female team book. Bill Black and team have been building a small but very loyal fan base since 1984. I started reading FemForce with FemForce Special #1. This issue focused on the storyline involving Synn’s loss of control of her powers. The whole FemForce team have repaired to a high-tech government paranormal facility, The Colorado Project, where they hope to preform an experimental medical procedure to restore Synn’s balance. Stardust and Nightveil argue as to whether science or magic is the best cure to Synn’s ills. This issue also introduces N.E.D.O.R. Agents. Set in 1965, the strip answers the question, what if the Standard /Nedor heroes had been revived in 1960s, like the DC and Marvel/Timely heroes were? The store features Fighting Yank, Pyroman, Black Terror, The Commando Cubs, and other actual Golden age heroes, and introduces second-generation heroines Pyrogirl, Candi Future and Fighting Yank, jr. Plus Dinosaur Girl faces an Asian giantess who seems to be the first in an endless wave of new female Axis menaces.

Magneto Not A Hero #1

Magneto Not A Hero #1: Erik Lasher is the best villain in any comic. In that he is so complex that he can be written as both hero and villain. He is the Malcolm X to Professor X’s Martin Luther King. He wants Mutant equality now by any means necessary. He is also a holocaust survivor, who really believes “Never Again.” In this four part story a video surfaces of Magneto murdering members of an anti-mutant group. It’s not clear if the tape is real or a fake. But Erik must answer to the Avengers for the contents of the tape as well as deal with the reaction from within his mutant community. The thing that makes Magneto fun is playing the line between being a mutant rights activist and being a mutant terrorist. Skottie Young does a great job focusing on Magneto and how others deal with him.

Uncanny X-Force #17: In Uncanny X-Force, Rick Remender goes into familiar waters as we are in part 7 of the 8 part Dark Angel Saga. The Saga actually began in June 1986 when Apocalypse first appeared and started a storyline that led to the end of the Angel and the birth of Dark Angel. One of my favorite lines in the book is Warren saying “X-Men don’t kill” especially since Dark Angel does kill and the entire Uncanny X-Force cast are the X-Men who kill. You could even go as far to say they are child killers. The events in Uncanny haven’t matched up with Schism yet. If you are a long -ime X-Men fan there are lots of little payoffs with fond memories of Age of Apocalypse. Even playing up the Phoenix and Weapon X relationship. While I find this all to be great fun and well thought out, I don’t know if it is even accessible to new fans. I hope it is, because this is all the wild violence that made Wolverine a super star in the early days of Uncanny X-Men and now he is leader of a team of like minded mutants.

Wolverine and the X-Men #1

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d be a judicious comics buyer and pick the top four out of over 20 titles I’d want this week. DC/Vertigo makes it slightly easier by making the new Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso joint Spaceman #1 only $1. This dollar price point for first issues combined with the $9.99 price point they sometimes do for the first volume of comic trade paperbacks surely gets a lot of traction. Next up I’d get Jason Aaron’s new era of the X-Men in Wolverine & X-Men #1 (Marvel, $3.99) with Chris Bachalo. I’d also get my regular pulls of DMZ #70 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) and The Walking Dead #90 (Image, $2.99) and last–but first in my stack to read-–would be Secret Avengers #18 (Marvel, $3.99). I hear some Ellis guy is writing it, but the big draw for me is artist David Aja. His Iron Fist run is one of my top favs in comics in the past ten years, and he’s a titan in my book.

If I had $30, I’d first grab this week’s Pilot Season: The Beauty (Image/Top Cow, $3.99) despite not knowing what it’s about because I love the Pilot Season concept. Next up would be the finale of Red Wing #4 (Image, $3.50), Butcher Baker, Righteous Maker #7 (Image, $2.99) and Daredevil #5 (Marvel, $2.99). Looking back at my picks so far, it’s an art-heavy week for me with lots of favorites from Risso to Bachalo, Aja, Burchelli, Huddleston and Martin. That means extra-long reading, as I normally do a second and third read just to soak up the artwork page by page, panel by panel.

If I were to splurge, I would gladly plunk down money for The Manara Library Vol. 1 (Dark Horse, $59.99). I applaud Dark Horse for doing the massive undertaking of collecting all of Manara’s work in seven volume. This first volume collects The Paper Man as well as Indian Summer with Hugo Pratt. It’s going to be a good weekend for me, work be damned.

Graeme McMillan

Kirby: Genesis

For a Kirby fan like myself, this is a pretty great week to have $15: More than half of it would immediately go toward the lengthily titled DC Comics Presents: The Jack Kirby Omnibus Sampler #1 (DC, $7.99), which collects 96 pages of 1950s Kirby from the pages of Adventure Comics, House of Secrets, House of Mystery and other anthology titles. Then I’d throw some coin in the direction of Kirby: Genesis #4 (Dynamite, $3.99), the continuation of Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross and the unsung Jack Herbert’s evocation of Kirbyesque scale and imagination, using some of his lesser-known creations. I’ve really been digging this series, and even if I hadn’t already been planning to pick up this issue, that lovely Ross cover probably would’ve convinced me. Look at the Captain Victory pose! Look at the giant egg-headed character at the back! Not-so-Kirby-esque, but a definite must: The Flash #2 (DC, $2.99), which had a surprisingly lovely first issue last month and earned back all the goodwill lost with the previous series.

If I had $30, there’d be even more Kirby-influence going on, because I’d pick up the first issue of two relaunches of Kirby properties: Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri’s The Incredible Hulk and Aaron (again!) and Chris Bachalo’s Wolverine and the X-Men (Both Marvel, $3.99). The prelude to the Hulk book at the end of Fear Itself #7 was the very definition of underwhelming, and I didn’t think much of Schism, but I’m holding out hope for these two books nonetheless. Also on the to-buy list: DC’s Legion: Secret Origin (The second retelling of the team’s roots in the last two years, both of them written by Paul Levitz; DC, $2.99) and the second issue of Justice League Dark (DC, $2.99), which was fun if not essential in its debut.

Like Chris, if I had the possibility of splurging this week, it’s be The Manara Library Vol. 1 (Dark Hourse, $59.99). The man’s art is just stunning, and I can’t wait to see it in this deluxe presentation.

Brigid Alverson

The Drops of God

If I had $15, I would have just enough for the first volume of Drops of God, the manga about wine tasting that features two willowy men competing for an inheritance based on how well they can identify 12 different wines. It’s a winning manga formula that has not only won the book several awards but also boosted the popularity of the wines involved, and I can’t wait to read it.

If I had $30, I would add Power Lunch, a new all-ages graphic novel from Oni Press. I like the wacky premise‹a kid gains superpowers from the different foods he eats‹and the creative team of Dean Trippe and J. Torres closes the sale for me.

Splurge: The second volume of A Bride’s Story, Kaoru Mori’s beautifully drawn tale of life on the Silk Road in the 19th century. The first volume didn’t have a lot of story–it was more a series of beautifully drawn moments with occasional bursts of action–which puts it in the splurge rather than must-buy category as far as I’m concerned. And since that only sets me back $16.99, expensive for a weekly buy but cheap for a splurge, I’ll toss in Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #6, which I believe wraps up a story arc, and The Sixth Gun #16, and call it a very good week indeed.

Chris Mautner

Milo Manara Library

If I had $15:It would be a toss-up between The Smurf Apprentice, the eighth (that many already) volume in Papercutz’s ongoing reprint project, because you can never have too many Smurf comics, or the latest volume (that’s No. 10 if you’re counting) of Yotsuba! the cheery little manga about a effervescent green-haried girl. I’d probably end up going with Yotsuba, only because it’s one of my daughter’s favorite comics, and she’d kill me if I didn’t buy it.

If I had $30:I’d probably take a chance on Drops of God, that manga series about wine that seems to be insanely popular in its home country, if only to see what all the fuss was about.

Splurge:A couple people have mentioned the first volume of the Manara Library, and that’s definitely on my Amazon Wish List, but before that I think I’d pick up the second volume of Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse. The first volume was a real treat, not just in terms of reintroducing myself to Gottfredson’s stellar work, but also in the sheer amount of incisive historical information about the strip, Gottfredson and his various Disney helpers. I’m sure Vol. 2 will be more of the same.

Michael May

From All-Star Western #2

If I had $15, I’d continue picking up some New 52 series I’m enjoying along with some talking apes. It hurts–oh it hurts–to pay four bucks for All-Star Western #2 ($3.99), but I’ll do it. I loved the detective story in the first issue with Arkham’s trying to figure out Hex in the voice over, and the art was even better. I don’t think I can keep buying it at that price, but I seem to be hooked for the first story anyway. More affordable are Justice League Dark #2 ($2.99) and Superman #2 ($2.99). JLD is starting with a slow build, but I’m attracted by the concept enough to keep checking it out. I was especially pleased by the attention the first issue of Superman gave to Lois Lane, so I’m hoping there’s more of that as the series continues. Finally, I’d grab Planet of the Apes #7 ($3.99), because that’s a fantastic series that I’ve run out of ways to say I love.

If I had $30, I’d get Aquaman #2 ($2.99). I enjoyed the stronger, tougher Aquaman in the first issue; I just hope the tone becomes less defensive, and quickly. I’m a big fan of the character, but (or maybe because of that) I’m already tired of his constantly explaining how cool he is. Next, I’d add some more expensive comics to the stack, like John Martz’ Heaven All Day ($4) about a lonely man who’s building a mysterious contraption and the abandoned robot he encounters in the process. Then there’s Ape’s Western/Kung Fu/Monster mash-up, Helldorado #1 ($3.99) and Warren Ellis’ Secret Avengers #18 ($3.99).

My splurge item would be Flesh: The Dino Files ($25.99) from Rebellion/2000 AD, because it’s a badass version of Terra Nova. Instead of going back in time to live, the future citizens of our depleted planet go back in time to capture dinosaurs for food. That’s a horribly irresponsible plan, but I’m curious to see if that’s addressed too. I hope it is, but even if not, I’m okay with shutting off the environmentalist part of my brain long enough to enjoy some dino-roping cowboys.

JK Parkin

If you buy one comic this week, it’s gotta be Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #19.

B.P.R.D Hell On Earth: Russia #1

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? This week our special guest is Dark Horse assistant editor Jim Gibbons, who I spoke to about his new job on Friday.

To see what Jim and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below …

*****

Brigid Alverson

Snarked

Top of my stack this week was the first issue of Roger Langridge’s Snarked! His remained Walrus and Carpenter are con men with hearts of gold, and while neither of them is too bright, the Walrus has a certain practical ability to get things done. So when Princess Scarlett and her baby brother, Prince Rusty, are in danger because of scheming by the palace advisers, none other than the Cheshire Cat himself points her toward the rascally pair. It’s good, old-fashioned comedy with a familiar storyline and gentle humor that both children and adults can relate to.

I also enjoyed the second issue of B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Russia. I feel like this is a very muscular story that sort of grabs you and drags you in. Kate Corrigan and Johann Strauss are in Russia investigating some sort of icky problem, and the plot moves along briskly in this issue with a bit of exposition and a nasty case of possession. There seem to be several strands to the story, and it will be interesting to see how Mike Mignola and co. tie them all up.

With the third volume of their Archie Archives, Dark Horse has found their formula — minimal front matter (this one features an introduction by Archie Comics president Mike Pellerito but no other historical information) followed by a solid collection of vintage comics. Volume 3 features comics from 1943 and 1944, and in addition to the odd look of the characters — Archie has prominent buck teeth, Jughead looks like one of the Dead End Kids and seldom opens his eyes‹there’s the strangeness of wartime Riverdale, where goats run freely and people worry about ration points. A bit of background on these comics would have been nice; a number were inked by Janice Valleau, whom David Hajdu highlighted in the opening pages of The Ten Cent Plague as an established comics artist who left the field during the dark days of the 1950s.

Tim O’Shea

Sweet Tooth

Sweet Tooth #26: I hate to agree with my pal Dugan Trodglen, but I suspect he is right when he feared writer Jeff Lemire’s involvement in the new DC52 would negatively impact the quality of this book. I am a huge fan of guest artist Matt Kindt, but this first installment of a three-issue arc bored me immensely, no matter how effectively Kindt drew and painted the story, Lemire’s script was heavy on narration and less engaging than what I come to expect on Sweet Tooth.

Huntress #1: Remember the whole new DC52 and how everything is starting from square one (unless you were connected to Batman [and were not Barbara Gordon])? Well Paul Levitz was writing Huntress in the late 1970s (albeit Helena Wayne back then) and Levitz is writing her again more than 30 years later. Way to shake it up, DC. I bought
this book against my better judgment because I have enjoyed artist Marcus To so much in the past. Huntress going against Italian organized crime…again. Yippie. Won’t be back for issue #2.

Action Comics #2: So Rags Morales and Brent Anderson split up art duties on writer Grant Morrison’s second issue. Anderson’s Lois Lane is distinctive (in a good way). Just wondering, am I the only person that tires of Kryptonian dialogue that no one understands? Small quibble, I promise. The book continues to be a fairly interesting read, though clearly rehashing the same Superman ground we’ve seen before. A great deal of the new DC52 smacks of high-end Elseworlds so far, but for now it’s selling quite well of course.

Thunderbolts #164: Modern day pseudo-Thunderbolts trapped in 1943 Austria along with the Invaders provides for some hilarious faux wholesome period dialogue (Boomerang saying “Aw, shucks” for example) from writer Jeff Parker. Artist Kev Walker looks immensely stronger on art (unlike last week’s complaint) when inked by Terry Pallot. Really hoping next week I will not have to stare at another Marvel house ad touting an Avengers Solo book launching October 2010 (really nice attention to detail, gang).

Hulk #42: Wonder what happens when Thunderbolt Ross starts dabbling in foreign policy as the Red Hulk? Nothing that makes Steve Rogers happy, but it does make me content (as well as set up the foundation for some interesting guest stars) in the first installment of the “Hulk of Arabia” arc. With the series increased publishing schedule, there’s no way that artist Gabriel Hardman can draw every issue. So I was pleased to see that Patrick Zircher’s artistic style (while not exactly like Hardman’s) in this issue is not a jarring transition to a style that clashes with Hardman.

JK Parkin

Ready Player One

I was traveling for the past couple weeks, visiting family and friends in Texas, which meant I had some down time to catch up on some reading — mostly on my iPad. Considering it’s setting and subject matter, I think Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One was written specifically for me. Dystopian future (check), virtual reality (check), a street-smart teenager (check) and more ’80s references than you could roll a 20-sided dice at (huh?). The story is set in a future where the real world is something everyone wants to escape from, but luckily there’s a virtual reality world, OASIS, that’s filled with various planets, quests and avatars of all kinds for someone like our hero, Wade, to dive into. Wade’s a poor kid in Oklahoma looking for a break, and when the creator of the virtual reality world Wade pretty much lives in dies, the kid goes on a quest to solve the riddle the guy left in his will. Fans of the old Atari game Adventure will remember the three castles you had to find the keys for; James Halliday set up a similar quest in the OASIS, and whoever can find the three keys, open the gates and solve the puzzles within will not only get the guy’s enormous fortune, but also control of the OASIS. Halliday was raised in the ’80s on John Hughes movies, TV sitcoms, video games, comic books, Dungeons & Dragons and Rush songs, and all of that comes into play as Wade tries to solve the puzzle before anyone else — including a shady corporation who wants control of the OASIS. Just following along to see what references Cline would throw in next was fun, but what really made the book was the main character, an underdog you can’t help but cheer for.

On the comic front, I downloaded a few on the road, including the first two chapters of the new Ultimate Spider-Man and the last two chapters of X-Men Schism. I haven’t read any USM since maybe the second or third story arc; I was always good with the first Peter Parker and never felt the need to follow the second, despite the fact that the book was well crafted. But I was curious enough about Miles Morales to see how they’d introduce him, and after reading the first two issues I can say I’m hooked, at least for a few more issues.

As for Schism, while the series read like a prologue to the upcoming X-Men relaunch, i.e. it didn’t feel very self-contained and didn’t introduce a lot of surprises, I dug some of the elements of it. One the new Hellfire Club, and second, Jason Aaron’s Wolverine. I never read his take on the regular Wolverine series, but I think I see some trades in my future. And I’ll at least be checking out the first few issues of Wolverine and the X-Men later this year.

Jim Gibbons

The majority of what I end up reading is directly related to my work as an assistant editor, but here are a few things I’ve been enjoying in my spare time…

The Coffin

Mike Huddleston’s work on Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain has been consistently blowing me away, so I’ve been checking out a bunch of Mike’s other work. I recently read the Phil Hester penned The Coffin after hearing Guillermo del Toro give it a personal recommendation at Comic-Con—that’s a pretty good pedigree as far as I’m concerned. It’s a very enjoyable and really great looking read about keeping souls on earth after death in robot “coffins.” Up next, I’ll be delving into Huddleston’s The Homeland Directive written by Robert Vendetti. I’ve flipped through it and the art looks phenomenal. I’m psyched to jump into that one.

B.P.R.D Hell On Earth: Russia #1 was an amazing first issue. Tyler Crook is really hitting his stride and I’m super excited to see how the Bureau interacts with their Russian counterpart. Given, B.P.R.D. is one of my favorite comic series of all time, so… not a hard sell for me there regardless.

Based on what little I’ve read, Green River Killer is shaping up to be one of the best graphic novels of the year.

In the realm of superheroes, I’ve been enjoying Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force. It’s much preferable take on the X-Men’s wetworks team than some comics in recent years, as far as I’m concerned—a lot less angsty and a lot more fun. Plus, the Age of Apocalypse nostalgia they’ve been throwing in there seems directed specifically at readers like me who grew up thinking AoA was one of the best things to ever happen in comics.

I’m always working my way through a few massive archival books. Right now I’ve got bookmarks in Marvel’s gigantic Howard the Duck Omnibus and the Jack Kirby’s Eternals Omnibus. And if I do things right, I’ve always got unread Stan Sakai comics around. Right now, I’m trucking through Space Usagi and starting up Fantagraphics’ beautiful Usagi Yojimbo omnibus. Sakai’s an absolute master, so I always aim to have some of his work on hand.

David Macho rolls out his fourth trailer this week for DC Comics’ New 52, this time spotlighting Legion of Super-Heroes #1, by Paul Levitz and Francis Portela, one of two relaunch titles starring the teenagers from the future (the other is Legion Lost by Facian Nicieza and Pete Woods).

The Legion of Super-Heroes has been decimated by the worst disaster in its history. Now, the students of the Legion Academy must rise to the challenge of helping the team rebuild – but a threat of almost unstoppable power is rising at the edge of Dominator space, and if the new recruits fail, the Legion Espionage Squad may be the first casualties in a war that could split worlds in half!

Legion of Super-Heroes #1, which boasts a cover by Karl Kerschl, arrives on Sept. 21.

Spera, Volume 1

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Archaia

The Grave Doug Freshley – A lot of publishers are doing Weird Western comics lately and that’s just fine with me.

Spera, Volume 1 – I like the sound of this fairy tale in which a couple of princesses combine efforts to save their kingdoms. It’s not that I’m anti-prince, but that’s a cool, new way to do that story.

Avatar

Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindery Island – Warren Ellis doing Steampunk sounds thrilling, but really all they had to say was “pirates.” I bet this is still really good though, even if you’re pickier than I am.

Boom!

Roger Langridge’s Snarked #1 – After a well-loved zero-issue, Langridge’s version of Wonderland gets its real, official start.

The Huntress #1

Dark Horse

Turok, Son of Stone, Volume 1: Aztlan – I never read any of the Valiant stuff, nor the original comics they were based on, but having rediscovered my interest in dinosaurs in the last few years, I gave the first issue of this a shot and enjoyed it.

DC

The Huntress #1 – How’s Levitz doing with his new Legion stuff? Can he still write? DC finally rebooted the Legion enough times to pound the fandom right out of me, so I haven’t been keeping up. I’m always curious about the Huntress though, because she seems like a character with a ton of potential. I’m drowning in the hype in this solicit (“Hot new miniseries!” “Largest price on her head in DC Universe history!” “Jaw-dropping events!” “Defines her life!” “Tie-in to upcoming Birds of Prey!”), but I’d like to read a good Huntress story and am hoping this qualifies.

The Shade #1 – This is probably as close as we’re going to get to a new James Robinson Starman series, but you know what? It’s really damn close. And it’s got some amazing artists scheduled for it like Darwyn Cooke, Javier Pulido, Jill Thompson, Frazer Irving, and Gene Ha.

Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus, Volume 1 tpb – Hey! Cheapskate edition! I hadn’t even dared to hope.

Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 5 – I was getting all excited about the Tales of the Batman: Don Newton collection also coming out this month and was about to write something about how much I love Bronze Age Batman. Then I realized that that’s what this collects too, only cheaper and it’s slightly earlier stuff. Still, that Newton volume is in color, so I’ll probably want both books.

The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12 – Do you know what I like better than a Batman/Zatanna team-up? I don’t either.

Hark! A Vagrant

The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1 - Dammit, DC. You’re going to make me buy this again, aren’t you?

Drawn and Quarterly

Hark! A Vagrant – If I could only buy one thing this month, Kate Beaton’s collection would be it. I cannot wait to start loaning this out and sharing her stuff with my friends and family who don’t read webcomics.

Dynamite

Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris, Volume 1 – Colossus of Mars – Unlike the glut of Green Hornet comics, there seem to be solid reasons for each of Dynamite’s John Carter series to exist side-by-side. I’m eager to hear what Burroughs fans think of this one.

Sherlock Holmes: Year One – Ditto this and Holmes fans. Is it closer in tone to A Study in Scarlet or Young Sherlock Holmes?

First Second

Orcs, Volume 1: Forged for War - Orcs are my least-favorite Tolkien/D&D mythical race, but I trust First Second to change my mind about that. Dwarves better watch their backs if they don’t want to get bumped to the bottom of the list.

Humanoids

The Zombies That Ate the World, Volume 1: Bring Me Back My Head! – My Guy Davis collection is one step closer to being complete.

IDW

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #1 – In spite of what I said about my Legion fandom earlier, this really does sound cool. Then again, I’m the guy who liked the Star Trek/X-Men crossovers.

Legion of Monsters #1

30 Days of Night #1 – Very excited about a 30 Days of Night ongoing. This means I probably need to catch up on the last couple of mini-series though.

Cold War #1 – Yes, I do believe I could get into a John Byrne spy series.

Bloom County: The Complete Library, Volume 5 – Eep! I’m falling behind!

Kill Shakespeare, Volume 2: The Blast of War - The massive Fables-meets-the-Bard mini-series is all collected finally. Which means I get to read it now.

Marvel

Avengers 1959 #1 and 2 – See what I said about John Byrne’s Cold War, substitute Howard Chaykin for Byrne; add Namora and Kraven the Hunter.

Legion of Monsters #1 – Someone started a meme a while ago about what titles you’d want in a Marvel version of DC’s New 52. I’ve been giving that some thought and a couple of my wishes were a  comic about all of Marvel’s monster characters and another about Elsa Bloodstone. Marvel’s apparently reading my mind.

Moonstone

Return of the Monsters – I’m already pretty interested in Moonstone’s pulp characters: Black Bat, Phantom Detective, Domino Lady, and the Spider. But I’m hooked right through the cheek when they meet Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, a mummy, and a werewolf in a series of four, separate comics.

Airboy Presents The Airfighters - I’m a little confused about whether this has already been solicited before, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I haven’t read it yet and I want to.

Nordguard

NBM

Salvatore, Volume 2: An Eventful Crossfire – I do love a good anthropomorphic animal story. Blame Blacksad.

Scar

Madame Samurai, Volume 2 – The first volume of this was quiet and beautiful. Glad there’s a second.

Sofawolf

Nordguard – The blurb for this reads like a standard Northern adventure story about a team of sled dogs who have to brave a variety of dangers to save some miners. I dig Jack London and all, but I’ve seen that story before, usually on Disney. Then I looked at the cover and realized that the sled dogs are wearing parkas and carrying revolvers.

And that’s it for me. What did I leave out?

Green Lantern #1, by Dave Johnson

Although it seems like DC’s big relaunch announcement came out an eternity ago, it actually took the publisher less than two weeks to roll out the 52 titles and their creative teams for the big relaunch/reboot/overhaul coming in September. Now that the cats are out of their respective bags, I thought I’d see where various creators and characters will land after the reboot.

So I went back through DC’s August solicitations to see who was writing or drawing what, and tried to map everyone to their post-relaunch project — if they had one. However, looking at DC’s August solicitations, there seem to be several fill-in issues, so where appropriate I tried to map the most recent ongoing creative teams to their new projects (for instance, I consider Gail Simone and Jesus Saiz the regular creative team for Birds of Prey, even if they aren’t doing the last two issues before September hits). Keep in mind that I just went through the ongoing series and skipped over all the miniseries … of which there are a lot, what with Flashpoint winding up in August.

It’s also worth noting that although several creators didn’t appear in the “big 52″ announcements, that doesn’t mean their tenure with DC is necessarily over — some, like Frazer Irving, have said they have future projects that haven’t been announced. So I tried to note where creators have talked publicly about their post-relaunch plans with DC (or lack thereof, as the case may be). The same could probably be said for some of DC’s characters as well. Or, as Gail Simone said on Twitter: “Again, September is NOT THE END. There’s still plans for characters that we haven’t seen yet.”

So let’s get to it ….

Green Lantern titles: There is no Green Lantern title in August. July’s issue, #67, wraps up “War of the Green Lanterns” and is by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Christiam Almy — the same guys working on Green Lantern #1. Green Lantern Corps #63 is by Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham, while Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #13 is by Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin. The latter creative team takes over Green Lantern Corps in September, while the former moves to Green Lantern: New Guardians. As Sean Collins pointed out last week, not a lot of change here in terms of creative teams, although the GL books do have a new sister book in the previously announced Red Lanterns title by Peter Milligan and Ed Benes.

Booster Gold: Looks like issue #47 is the last one, which ties into Flashpoint. Dan Jurgens is writing Justice League International #1, starring Booster Gold, with artist Aaron Lopresti. And Jurgens is drawing the J.T. Krul-written Green Arrow.

Justice League of America: The book will drop “of America” from the title in September, as Geoff Johns and Jim Lee take over the series from James Robinson and … I guess the last regular artist was Brett Booth? Booth moves to Teen Titans, while James Robinson doesn’t appear anywhere on the big list of 52 titles. Which is … odd.

Between this, GL and Aquaman (with artist Ivan Reis), DC Chief Creative Officer Johns is tied with Teen Titans/Red Hood and the Outlaws/Superboy scribe Scott Lobdell for writing the most titles for DC come September.

Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #1

Superman titles: Lots of changes here … Paul Cornell and Kenneth Rocafort wrap up the “Reign of the Doomsdays” storyline in Action Comics in September. Cornell moves on to Stormwatch and Demon Knights, while Rocafort moves to Red Hood and the Outlaws. The book’s previous artist, Pete Woods, is on Legion Lost. Meanwhile, Grant Morrison and Rags Morales take over Action Comics.

The “Grounded” storyline in Superman ends with August’s issue #714, by J. Michael Straczynski, Chris Roberson, Allan Goldman and Eber Ferreira. Straczynski’s not tapped to write any of the September titles, which isn’t surprising, based on the fact that he stepped away from monthly comics to work on the sequel to Superman: Earth One — another question entirely. In any event, the man they brought on to finish up “Grounded,” Roberson, isn’t on the list either. Roberson tweeted last week, “I’ve laid off alcohol & nicotine after Heroes, but I’m treating myself to a cigarette and beer, marking the end of my brief stay in the DCU.” He’s still writing iZombie for Vertigo. Goldman also isn’t on the list, while the book’s regular artist, Eddy Barrows, moves to Nightwing. George Pérez and Jesus Merino relaunch the the book in September as Superman: The Man of Tomorrow.

Two issues of Superboy arrive in August, by Jeff Lemire and a trio of artists. Lemire moves on from the title and will be writing Frankenstein and Animal Man in September, while Lobdell takes over writing Superboy with artist R.B. Silva. Artist Pier Gallo doesn’t appear to be doing anything for DC in September.

Supergirl‘s final creative team before the reboot, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Chriscross, aren’t working on any of the September books, although DeConnick did note that she was approached to pitch to them.

Most recently Superman/Batman has featured the work of Cullen Bunn and Chriscross, neither of whom appears on the big list o’ 52, with Joshua Hale Fialkov’s three-parter appearing in the final issues this summer. Fialkov will be writing I, Vampire in September.

The Bat-titles: Batman Incorporated goes on hiatus after August, but DC has announced that it will be back as a maxi-series next year. Morrison, as noted above, goes to Action Comics. The Bat titles themselves stay fairly consistent — Tony Daniel will continue to write and draw one of them as he moves from Batman to Detective Comics; writer Scott Snyder moves from Detective Comics to work with former Spawn artist Greg Capullo on Batman; and David Finch will continue to write Batman: The Dark Knight (a series he once drew as well) for artist Jay Fabok, who is slated to take over art chores with July’s pre-relaunch-resolicited issue #4. The only creators from those books pre-relaunch who don’t appear on the big list of 52 books are Jock and Francesco Francavilla, although Jock is apparently still doing Batman-related covers, while Francavilla will do “special fill-ins” for Snyder’s other writing project, Swamp Thing. Daniel has another project as well — The Savage Hawkman, with artist Phillip Tan.

Batman & Robin

Tomasi is also listed as the writer for Batman & Robin, a book he was announced as the regular writer for after Morrison left. However, since then the book has actually been written by several folks, including Judd Winick, David Hine and Cornell. Hine’s name doesn’t appear on the relaunch list. Winick and artist Guillem March, who worked together on B&R, will team up on Catwoman in September. Winick is also writing Batwing with Ben Oliver on art.

The last few issues of Batgirl have been by Bryan Q. Miller and Dustin Nguyen, while Pere Pérez is the artist for the last three issues before the relaunch. None of them are listed as creators on the 52 titles in September. In responding to a question on Twitter, Bryan Q. Miller said: “RT Anything new on the horizon for you at DC? @TreyKrimsin Maybe – but nothing in any way immediate.” The new Batgirl creative team is Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes, with Barbara Gordon stepping back into the costume.

Red Robin ends in August with an issue that has Tim going after his dad’s killer, Captain Boomerang, since CB is back from the dead. Writer Fabian Niceiza is working on Legion Lost in September. The artist for the last arc, Marcus To, isn’t doing anything in September, while the book’s previous artist, Freddie Williams, is working on Captain Atom with Krul. Red Robin will appear in Teen Titans come September.

The characters from Gotham City Sirens — Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn — seem to have scattered into the wind; Catwoman has her own book in September, while Poison Ivy appears to be in Birds of Prey and Harley Quinn is heading to the Suicide Squad. Creators Peter Calloway and Andres Guinaldo aren’t on any books in September.

Birds of Prey #1

And speaking of Birds of Prey, Simone’s last issue is #13, as the July and August installments are by writer Marc Andreyko and Billy Tucci — neither of whom is working on September’s books. Simone will move on to Batgirl, as noted above, as well as Firestorm, which she’s co-writing with Ethan Van Sciver. Jesus Saiz, who took a break from the book after issue #13, returns to BoP for the relaunch in September.

So what happens to Batman Beyond? Honestly, I’m not sure. It isn’t listed as one of the 52 titles, but CBR’s interview with Adam Beechen last week seemed to indicate the book isn’t going away:

I do know what our next arc is going to be, but I can’t talk about it yet. I’m in the process of plotting it out, and I even know what the next arc after that will be as well as our next “Legends of the Dark Knight” issue. We’re in a pretty good place about what’s ahead of us, and if all goes according to plan, we’re pretty well set for the next bit of time. And we’re going to keep the team intact as long as we can and keep trying to crank out good stuff.

It’s worth noting that there’s also a Superman Beyond #0 in August; it’s listed as a one-shot, but c’mon, a zero issue in August? How can there not be a first issue in its future?

Wonder Woman: The somewhat-controversial “Odyssey” arc, which put Wonder Woman in pants, wraps up in August by Straczynski, Phil Hester, Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher. None of these four is listed as a creator on any of September’s books. Wonder Woman #1 will be by Doctor 13: Architecture & Morality collaborators Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang.

Hester was brought onto the book at the same time Roberson came onto Superman, when Straczynski decided to step away from monthly comics. And while neither of them appears to be doing anything in September, Hester said on Twitter that “there are a lot of moving parts here,” and “So much in motion right now, but it is appreciated” when fans asked about his involvement, or lack thereof.

Adventure Comics and Legion of Super-Heroes: Paul Levitz will continue to chronicle the tales of the Legion, while Fabian Nicieza will write a Legion Lost series. Adventure appears to be gone. As for Adventure artist Phil Jimenez, a DC-exclusive creator, he tweeted, “Hey, comic readers — thanks for all the inquiries! I’m not a part of the big DCU relaunch, but I’ve got a few cool tricks up my sleeve!” followed by “Fun stuff! Hopefully announced by SDCC!” And artist Yildiray Cinar is working on the previously mentioned Firestorm book, as Francis Portela takes over Legion of Super-Heroes.

All-Star Western

Jonah Hex: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey will continue to tell the tales of the ugliest bounty hunter in the west in All-Star Western. They’re joined by artist Moritat.

Green Arrow: J.T. Krul will continue to write Green Arrow, joined by artist Dan Jurgens. Artist Diogenes Neves moves to Demon Knights, written by Cornell.

Secret Six: Simone has confirmed that issue #36 is indeed the last, as the characters Deadshot and King Shark move on to the new Suicide Squad book. Artist J. Calafiore is not listed as working on any of the 52 titles.

Zatanna: According to Paul Dini on his LiveJournal: “A few folks have asked me about the future of the Zatanna book at DC. I don’t know what plans DC has for it after this August, though I can confirm my last issue is the current one, #13.” Issue #13 came out in May. Solicitations for issues #14 and #15 list Dini as the writer, while Beechen is listed as the writer for August’s issue #16. So … I’m not sure what that means.

Responding to a question about the relaunch, Zatanna artist Jamal Igle tweeted, “I wasn’t invited to participate.” The character will appear in Justice League Dark.

Justice Society and Power Girl: I guess this explains why the description for the new Mister Terrific title didn’t reference the Justice Society. Apparently issue #54, by Marc Guggenheim and Jerry Ordway, will be the last. Neither Guggenheim nor Ordway was listed as working on any of the 52 titles, although artist Tom Derenick, who drew the recent issues #51-53, will team with Ivan Brandon on Sgt. Rock and the Men of War.

Power Girl, meanwhile, ends with August’s #27 by Matthew Sturges and Hendry Prasetya, neither of whom is listed as working on any of the 52 titles. The series’ previous writer, Winick, is working on Batwing and Catwoman, as noted above, while artist Sami Basri is working on Voodoo with Ron Marz.

Honestly, I was half-expecting a round of Justice Society titles to be announced at some point — Justice Society, Power Girl, maybe Star Girl or Starman. Maybe they’ll be tapped as mid-season replacements? On the other hand, the description of the Morrison/Morales Action Comics relaunch offered by DC’s The Source blog — “This momentous first issue will set in motion the history of the DC Universe as Superman defends a world that doesn’t trust their first Super Hero” — would appear to preclude the existence of a team full of World War II-era heroes that predates Superman’s generation.

Teen Titans

Teen Titans and Titans: Teen Titans writer J.T. Krul is penning two books come September, Captain Atom and Green Arrow. But I’m not seeing Nicola Scott or Doug Hazlewood on anything, though. That can’t be right; someone at DC get on that, stat.

Titans writer Eric Wallace is working on Mister Terrific; Fabrizio Fiorentino isn’t on anything. Deathstroke gets his own title in September, while Arsenal will join Red Hood and Starfire in Red Hood and the Outlaws.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: I was kind of wondering about the long-term future of this one even before the reboot. Which is too bad, as it’s also one I really enjoyed. Writer Nick Spencer is exclusive to Marvel now, so his name wouldn’t be on any other DC book, while the regular art team of Cafu and BIT will work on Grifter. Recent issues have featured art by Mike Grell and Nick Dragotta, who aren’t listed on any of September’s books.

Xombi: With John Rozum working on the new Static Shock series, I would have assumed that was it for Xombi. But someone asked about it on his blog, and he responded: “… I still can’t comment one way or another. Check back periodically, but in the meantime, please take a few minutes to write a letter to the powers that be at DC about what you think about Xombi and send it to them via snail mail. It has an impact. It’s what led to the current run of Xombi in the first place.”

At the very least, maybe they’d let Rozum and artist Frazer Irving wrap up the series in the new anthology title. Speaking of Irving, he tweeted: “For all interested parties, I do have a post-relaunch DC gig but it’s a secret at the mo And Gutsville still needs finishing…” More Gutsville is a plus for sure.

Flash: Flash‘s current run ended in May with issue #12 by Johns and Francis Manapul. The title will return in September sans Johns and with Manapul and Brian Buccellato sharing art and writing duties.

So there you have it, DC’s September books through the filter of their previous line-ups … and I still didn’t hit every single book that’ll come out in September. And based on some of the comments from various creators about additional projects beyond the 52, now I’d just really like to see what DC’s October looks like …

In the meantime, what September books are you going to get? Head over to CBR and take the survey!

Dark Horse assistant editor Brendan Wright noticed that Mario’s, a designer clothing store in Portland, Oregon, is using art from Paul Levitz’s 75 Years of DC Comics in its window displays. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of comics and fashion, made more fascinating by Wright’s uncertainty about the message Mario’s intended to convey.

“On the one hand,” he writes, “I suppose it casts comics as a generic pop-culture backdrop, a colorful splash of nostalgia against which gray suits can stand out, your mileage may vary. On the other hand, it does posit this $200 book as an upscale item for sophisticated people who drop lots of money on clothes.”

Wright wonders “if Mario’s is using comics as ironic kitsch or cool bits of culture.” Which do you think it is? Check out his photo-filled post then sound off below.

While in the Bay Area a few weeks ago for WonderCon, Paul Levitz, former DC president and publisher and current Legion of Super-Heroes writer, headed down the peninsula to speak at Google’s offices in Mountain View as a part of their Authors@Google speaker series. It’s a lengthy video, but well worth the time to check it out.

(Hat tip: Tom Galloway)

Mary Marvel's '90s reintroduction, by Jerry Ordway

Let me start by saying that I am supremely unqualified to speak about what women or girls want from superhero comics. In this respect I am probably pretty similar to former DC publisher Paul Levitz, who (as you might have heard) told the Comics Journal:

I think the whole myth of superheroes is that they simply aren’t appealing to women as they are to men. I’d like to think I had a pretty good track record on that myself as a writer, as the Legion historically had a pretty good number of female readers, Chris Claremont on his years on the X-Men had a tremendous number of female readers, and there may be any number of other superhero titles that had a fair balance. But overall it would surprise me at any point if you started to have a title that was both a traditional superhero and a majority female audience.

What strikes me about Mr. Levitz’s comments (not just those but others in the article) is the apparent indifference they betray to the prospect of a big female readership. He seems to suggest that while he wouldn’t turn one down, it’s not something DC has particularly pursued. Many more men than women read superhero comics, so DC has focused more on the guys. Even when Sandman appeals to women, that ends up proving his point, because Sandman and Vertigo aren’t superheroes.

Again, at this point I am neither well-equipped nor especially interested in evaluating Mr. Levitz’s arguments. Nevertheless, the attitude that “we don’t need to go this way because it’s never panned out before” sounds rather short-sighted. In the current publishing climate, DC simply can’t afford to ignore women and girls. It needs all the readers it can get.

With all that in mind, I’d now like to talk about Mary Marvel.

* * *

Slowly but surely I am making my way through Showcase Presents Shazam! Volume 1, which reprints the then-new material from the first 33 issues of DC’s 1970s Marvel Family revival. As a youngster I read the later issues of Shazam!, when the series was retooled to reflect the live-action TV series. Needless to say, the comics were better — the show didn’t have the budget to transport the Capitol Building back to dinosaur times.

Anyway, the first twenty or so issues of Shazam! tried to evoke the feeling of Marvel Family stories from the ‘40s and early ‘50s. Producing these stories for DC must have been fairly bittersweet for original Marvel Family artists C.C. Beck and Kurt Schaffenberger, since DC’s allegations of copyright infringement essentially forced Fawcett Comics (the Marvels’ original home) out of business. Denny O’Neil and Elliot S! Maggin, the young DC writers working on Shazam!, may have had similar feelings.

Regardless, the results were whimsical and good-natured, sometimes to a fault. Beck’s more cartoonish style didn’t always translate well to early-‘70s fashions, and his design for new character Sunny Sparkle (“the nicest guy in the world”) could be an unnerving blend of big eyes, freckles, and teeth. Still, DC was apparently striving not just for continuity with, but fidelity to, the original stories; and with Shazam! reprinting them too, ‘70s readers could judge for themselves.

Now, for the most part, that all applies to the Captain Marvel stories. Before too long, though, Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel had gotten their own occasional features in Shazam!, each with its own artistic style. This too was faithful to the Fawcett originals, when artist Mac Raboy drew Junior’s adventures in a more realistic style. Mary’s stories fell somewhere in between — not as cartoonish as Cap’s or as realistic as Junior’s. Dave Cockrum and Dick Giordano were among Junior’s Shazam! artists, whereas Bob Oksner drew all of Mary’s solo adventures. (Oksner also started drawing Captain Marvel stories with issue #10.)

To be sure, there were only four new Mary Marvel solo stories in Shazam!’s thirty-five-issue run. Each was written by E. Nelson Bridwell, and none were over eight pages. In issue #10′s “The Thanksgiving Thieves” (February 1974), Mary foils looters trying to take advantage of the annual Thanksgiving parade. “The Haunted Clubhouse” (issue #13, July-August 1974) revolved around the Mary Marvel Fan Club’s unfortunate choice of headquarters. Issue #16′s “The Green-Eyed Monster” (January-February 1975) featured a girl jealous of Mary’s heroic career; and issue #19′s “The Secret of the Smiling Swordsman” (July-August 1975) pitted Mary and Uncle Marvel against a dandified art thief.

Clearly the format of these backup stories meant that they had to be fairly simple and straightforward, with no real opportunity to develop continuing subplots or their own supporting cast. Still, each is charming in its own way, and each gives Mary the chance to show off her super-powers. They’re the kinds of stories you’d expect a superhero to wrap up in six or seven pages, but at the same time they present Mary as a resolute character utterly confident in herself and her abilities. Oksner’s soft-focus artwork updates Mary appropriately for the 1970s, giving her an indeterminate young-adult look without sexualizing her noticeably. Later portrayals of Mary caricatured her as innocent to the point of gullibility, but here she is dealing with situations which don’t have much nuance. If Mary’s solo adventures had continued, perhaps they might cumulatively have made her look bland or pedantic. Nevertheless, I can see this version of Mary Marvel developing into a capable, professional character not unlike Power Girl or the Earth-1 Supergirl.

Indeed, the Marvel Family adventures where Mary fights alongside Cap and Junior bear this out. In the book-length “Evil Return of the Monster Society” (issue #14, September-October 1974), Mary barks orders to her big brother: “I’ll save [the people]! You go after the monster!” Aliens capture Mary Batson in issue #17′s “The Pied Un-Piper” (March-April 1975), but when she’s freed aboard their ship, she immediately changes to Mary Marvel and starts busting heads. Finally, in issue #20′s “The Strange and Terrible Disappearance of Maxwell Zodiac” (September-October 1975), Mary fends off a “platoon” of Sumo wrestlers, thinking “[e]nd of lesson in hospitality!” afterwards. Kurt Schaffenberger drew these stories, and his thicker lines and more deliberate style gave Mary a more action-oriented look. Likewise, Denny O’Neil (who wrote issues #14 and #17) and Elliot S! Maggin were able to “go bigger” with these stories, so Mary got to strut her stuff that much more.

These various formats actually make Showcase Presents Shazam! a decent advertisement for tracking down the original back issues. Most featured at least one reprint (up to issue #25, I think), and issues #12 through #17 were 100-page Giants. I realize there are many factors weighing against such collections today, but quite a few 8-page stories could fit in one of DC’s new 100-page $7.99 reprint books. Such short stories would also fit ideally into an e-reader library; and at the risk of getting too far ahead of myself, might even spur more ambitious Marvel Family hard-cover reprints. There is such a wealth of Marvel Family material in the DC vaults that its absence from the shelves mystifies me. If DC has any interest in reaching out to women or girls, why not see how they respond to a couple decades’ worth of Mary Marvel stories?

Currently, of course, Mary and Billy are pretty far down the DC bench. They’ve lost their Marvel powers and will be seen next in January’s Shazam! one-shot. Here’s hoping DC has cogent, constructive plans for putting them back in action. I recognize that Billy’s age makes it structurally difficult for him to be a continuing character. He can’t be a “kid who turns into an adult” forever — at some point, he has to grow up. I suspect “growing up” also went into the decision to turn Mary to the dark side in Countdown and Final Crisis. Still, apart from (maybe) being too similar to Supergirl and/or Power Girl, Mary could fit easily into the present-day DC lineup. From the ‘40s through the ‘80s, she was a character who knew her place in the world and enjoyed using her abilities for good. That’s corny, but she made it look fun.

Diamond Comic Distributors

Retailing | Diamond Comic Distributors has announced it will close its Los Angeles distribution center in March, with the facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi, taking over its functions. Regional Manager James Nash will relocate from L.A. to Olive Branch. There’s no word on how many jobs will be eliminated in the move, but ICv2 reports that “other staff has been encouraged to apply for positions in Olive Branch after their tenure in Los Angeles ends at the end of March.” [ICv2.com]

Publishing | Following Tuesday’s announcement that Ron Perazza has been named vice president of online for DC Entertainment comes word of two more additions to the department: DC Comics Online Editor Kwanza Johnson will be digital editor for DC Entertainment, and Technology Editor Dave McCullough will become director of online, both based in Burbank, Calif. The department will be headed by former WildStorm Vice President Hank Kanalz, who was promoted in October to senior vice president, digital. Heidi MacDonald also has a letter to freelancers from DC Vice President Terri Cunningham announcing that the Editorial Administration department will become Talent Relations & Services, which will remain in New York City. [Twitter, Twitter]

Digital Manga Guild

Publishing | Digital Manga Publishing CEO Hikaru Sasahara discusses the launch of Digital Manga Guild, an online initiative that will use fans as translators, editors and localizers in exchange for a share of revenues. [Publishers Weekly]

Passings | Steve Bennett pays tribute to Steve Bates, the Diamond employee and former retailer and ICv2 columnist who passed away on Friday. [ICv2.com]

Retailing | A bar owner wants to open a comic store in Yellowknife (population: 18,700), the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories. “Actually setting up the business and getting the supply in would be fairly cheap; it’s just a matter of whether or not it would be feasible to actually rent out an entire store,” says Dale Bardeau. “I have no idea what the market is in town.” [Northern News Services]

Creators | Takehiko Inoue confirmed this week that his award-winning samurai manga Vagabond will remain on indefinite hiatus while he deals with ongoing health problems. [Anime News Network]

Creators | Nathan Wilson concludes his three-part conversation with Paul Levitz. [TCJ.com]

Doonesbury

Creators | Garry Trudeau is profiled ahead of a Toronto book-signing for 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective: “If this prolonged downturn is reminding us of anything, it’s that work gives meaning to life. I’m grateful there’s still a demand for what I do. Mine is a very difficult industry to enter, but an established syndicated comic strip is the closest thing to tenure that pop culture offers. Or at least it was. Our fate is now intertwined with that of newspapers generally. But the work suits me. I’m a curious person, a professional generalist, so how fortunate am I that I still have an opportunity to entertain people and occasionally move them to thought and judgment? It’s a great gig.” [National Post]

Creators | Evan Dorkin is interviewed by a Greek website. [Comicdom, via Journalista]

Creators | Jeff Lemire talks about Sweet Tooth and Superboy. [io9.com]

Comics | Twenty-five comics canceled too soon, including Captain Britain and MI:13, Chase and Thriller. [UGO.com]

Batman: The Return

Publishing | Following its grim snapshot of year-to-date dollar sales in the direct market, ICv2.com has released a dreary analysis of the November charts: For the third time in 2010, the top-selling title failed to crack the 100,000-copy mark. Batman: The Return, priced at $4.99, sold about 99,500 copies, compared to the 144,000 sold by November 2009′s top title, Blackest Night #5. According to the retail news and analysis site, 20 of the Top 25 titles experienced a drop last month. As ICv2 noted last week in its initial report, dollar sales of comics were down 10.2 percent when compared with November 2009, while graphic novels jumped 14.84 percent, tied to the release of the 13th volume of The Walking Dead (it sold more than 19,000 copies). [ICv2.com]

Digital publishing | Google on Monday unveiled Google eBooks, a web-based e-book platform/digital storefront that boasts “the world’s largest selection of ebooks.” Dan Vado offers brief commentary. [TechCrunch]

Barnes & Noble

Retailing | Activist investor William Ackman has offered to finance a $960 million bid by Border Groups to buy its smaller larger rival Barnes & Noble. Both chains have been struggling amid competition from online stores like Amazon.com and the increasing popularity of e-book readers. [The Detroit News]

Passings | Steve Bates, longtime manager of Ohio’s Bookery Fantasy and later a writer in the marketing department of Diamond Comic Distributors, passed away Dec. 3 from cancer. He was 48. [ICv2.com]

Best of the year | Katherine Dacey selects the best manga of 2010, including AX: A Collection of Alternative Manga, Black Blizzard, and A Drunken Dream and Other Stories. [The Manga Critic]

Comics | S.I. Rosenbaum rolls out a graphic novel gift guide. [The Boston Phoenix]

Frank Miller

Creators | Christopher Irving continues his profile of Frank Miller, this time focusing on The Dark Knight Strikes Again, All-Star Batman and Robin, The Spirit movie and more. [Graphic NYC]

Creators | Nathan Wilson continues his discussion with Paul Levitz about 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking. [TCJ.com]

Creators | Sarah Glidden discusses her memoir/travelogue How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less: “I don’t even think I believe in objectivity anymore. No matter how hard you try to gather facts, there’s always a motivation behind the reasons we choose one source over another, and our sources have prejudices and biases too. That stuff can really drive you crazy if you start thinking about it. As soon as I started doing research into the history of the Levant region and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict I realized this. I was suspicious of pretty much everything I read. This book is kind of about my search for objective truths in a situation where that’s nearly impossible to find, so I knew that if I wanted to write about that I would have to go the route of extreme subjectivity.” [Bookslut]

Creators | Paul Tobin talks about Spider-Girl, Marvel Adventures and what he likes best about writing kids’ comics: “The freedom of being able to completely world-build. The all-ages material isn’t as bound by the Code of Continuity, so if I feel like bringing in some disparate elements, it’s all up to me.” [TFAW]

Doctor Strange: From the Marvel Vault

Creators | Tom Mason chats with Neil Vokes about his upcoming collaboration with Roger Stern Doctor Strange: From the Marvel Vault, which tells the story of the Sorcerer Supreme’s first night at at 177-A Bleecker Street. [Comix 411]

Comics | Tucker Stone offers tips for jump-starting a career in comics: “Don’t be that guy. You know which guy I’m talking about, the guy who is a walking PR kit. He never talks with you, he talks at you. This one dimensional persona pollutes the comics industry. If you have an idea for a project and you’re pretty excited about it, congratulations, but here’s a little secret: no one cares. If you insist on giving us lip service then please, I urge you to take a step outside yourself and imagine listening to your spiel about your ‘secret project’ or how ‘people would kill to work on the deal’ you just ‘scored’.” [comiXology]

Diamond Comic Distributors

Retailing | Rich Johnston confirms that Diamond Comic Distributors is developing a digital comics service that, in the words of a company representative, “will be entirely focused on driving sales of digital comic-related content through brick and mortar comic book specialty retailers.” No details were made available, but an official announcement is expected “in the near future.” In the meantime, Johnston gathers initial reactions from several retailers. [Bleeding Cool]

Publishing | Amit Desai, who has worked at Warner Bros. since 2004, has been named as DC Entertainment’s senior vice president, franchise management: “In his new role, Desai will develop and implement the individual franchise plans for Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, MAD Magazine, Vertigo titles, and other DC properties. This will include driving wider cross-promotional support across all Time Warner divisions.” [press release]

Publishing | Alex Segura, former publicity manager at DC Comics, has been hired by Archie Comics as executive director of publicity and marketing. [press release]

Eisner Awards

Awards | The judges have been announced for the 2011 Eisner Awards: Ned Cato Jr., Comic-Con International board member; Karen Green, Columbia University’s graphic novel librarian; Andrew Helfer, veteran editor and writer; Rich Johnson, co-founder of Yen Press and former vice president of book trade sales for DC Comics; and Chris Powell, general manager of Lone Star Comics/mycomicshop.com. [Comic-Con International]

Conventions | Evan Dorkin and Brian Heater wrap up Saturday’s Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. [Livejournal, The Daily Cross Hatch]

Creators | Nathan Wilson begins a three-part interview with Paul Levitz about the new book 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking. [TCJ.com]

Creators | Mike Mignola is featured in the first installment of the Los Angeles Times’ new video archive “The Signature Series.” [Hero Complex]

Fables #100

Creators | As Fables marks its 100th issue, Bill Willingham discusses the series’ appeal, and its future: “I’ve been asked, ‘Why doesn’t Fables come to an end the way other Vertigo books do?’ — this question implies that you get a stronger story if you set a horizon line. My reply is, ‘Fables comes to an end all the time.’ There’s been many stories throughout the series — both epic and small — that have come to an end. My hope is that I won’t get bored writing this book, and that I’ll be able to do it for a long time to come.” [io9.com]

Creators | Deborah Vankin briefly spotlights Kate Beaton. [Hero Complex]

Creators | Web Behrens talks to Batwoman artist Amy Reeder about being offered the series with J.H. Williams III: “At first, I thought it would be a bad idea. I figured he’ll just make me look bad, since his art is so good. Really! I thought, ‘I’m just asking for trouble.’ But then I keep saying, ‘I love a challenge.’ I want to do more with my art, and this is the way to do it.” [Time Out Chicago]

The Goon: An Irish Wake

Creators | John Geddes interviews Eric Powell about The Goon: An Irish Wake, a two-part story appearing on usatoday.com as part of the DH:HD program. [USA Today]

Creators | Kill Shakespeare collaborators Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery have been getting loads of press for their IDW Publishing series.  [AOL News]

Comics | Scott Allie, senior managing editor of Dark Horse, sits down for a video interview to discuss the developments in Buffy the Vampire Slayer #39. [TFAW.com]

Comics | Ben Morse looks at seven important X-Men stories. [The Cool Kids Table]

Comics | Five absurd ways comic books have resurrected dead superheroes. [Cracked]

One Piece, Vol. 60

Publishing | Eiichiro Oda’s blockbuster pirate manga One Piece has sold 32.34 million copies in 2010, more than double what it sold the previous year. According to Japanese market survey company Oricon Communications, the series’ five newest volumes have sold a combined 12.5 million copies. [Anime News Network]

Publishing | Comico co-founder Gerry Giovinco weighs in on an eBay listing that includes original artwork apparently left in the stewardship of his former partners Dennis and Phil LaSorda when the company went bankrupt in 1990: “It always was Comico policy to return all art to the creators. If there is art that was not returned, we are in total agreement that it should be returned to the rightful owners of the work. If you are a creator that believes your work could be among this lot, we would suggest you fight to get it back.” [CO2 Comics Blog]

CBLDF

Organizations | The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has won the 2010 Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award, presented by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to “individuals or groups who have furthered the cause of intellectual freedom, particularly as it impacts libraries and information centers and the dissemination of ideas.” [press release]

Conventions | Thomas Tracy talks briefly with organizer Gabriel Fowler about the second annual Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, being held Saturday in the borough’s Williamsburg neighborhood. [The Brooklyn Paper]

Conventions | The first Bent-Con convention for gay and lesbian comics creators and fans is being held Sunday in Los Angeles. [Examiner, Prism Comics]

Retailing | Citing economic factors, Raleigh, North Carolina, retailer Capitol Comics is closing its 24-year-old Hillsborough Street location. Its store on Holly Ridge Road will remain open. [Technician]

Creators | Former DC Comics Publisher Paul Levitz will appear today on NPR’s “On Point with Tom Ashbrook” to discuss his new book 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking. [On Point]

Captain Marvel

Creators | Mark Waid discusses his love for Captain Marvel (Shazam), why the character has difficulty sustaining a series, and why Mary Marvel has undergone such a startling transformation over the past few years: “Don’t get me started. A lot of what Mary’s gone through over the past decade or so has nothing to do with what’s broken or not broken about the concept, and everything to do with a bunch of creepy-ass older men working out their issues. Just thinking about it makes me want to take a Silkwood shower. It takes more imagination than most comics creators have to find something interesting about a good girl, but it’s not impossible.” [Popgun Chaos]

Creators | Sonny Liew is briefly interviewed ahead of his appearance at the Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention. [CNNGo.com]

Comics | Why are there so few black supervillains? [The Atlantic Wire]

Best of the year | John Hogan selects his favorite comics of 2010, including Alec: The Years Have Pants, Batwoman: Elegy, Revolver, and Superman: Earth One. [Graphic Novel Reporter]

The absence of black supervillains in mainstream comics Author: Phillip Lamarr Cunninghama Affiliation: a Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA DOI: 10.1080/21504851003798330 Article Requests: Order Reprints : Request Permissions Published in: Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics, Volume 1, Issue 1 June 2010 , pages 51 – 62 Publication Frequency: 2 issues per year Download PDF (~253 KB)     View Related Articles To cite this Article: Cunningham, Phillip Lamarr ‘The absence of black supervillains in mainstream comics’, Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics, 1:1, 51 – 62 Abstract Both the DC and Marvel universes feature a litany of supervillains who wield great power and great intellect and who pose a true threat to the superheroes in these respective universes. However, relatively few of these supervillains are black. As this essay shall suggest, a number of narratological constraints and tendencies that historically have been replete in mainstream comics are largely the cause of this absence. Following a delimiting of the terms black and supervillain, this essay – through an overview of some of the more prominent black villains in DC and Marvel comics – shall evidence why these villains have yet to achieve the same powerful status as their white counterparts. The essay shall conclude by providing a rationale for the creation of more black supervillains. Keywords: blackness; essentialism; mainstream comics; narratological constraints; supervillains Though I was only three years old when it debuted in 1977, Star Wars IV: A New Hope made a lasting impression on me. Like many impressionable children, I immediately became enthralled with the grand spectacle, and that Christmas, my toy chest was filled to the brim with Star Wars action figures and starships. Of all the characters in the film, my immediate favourite was Darth Vader, the brooding, asthmatic Sith Lord. From the moment the black-armoured Vader entered the opening scene, he became – and remains – my all-time favourite Star Wars character. Vader’s status as my favourite Star Wars character was at its peak when, a few years later, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1984) arrived in theatres. Over the course of those seven years, as my awareness of race began to develop, my mother revealed to me that Darth Vader was ‘black’. Like many unaware and naive Star Wars fans, my mother had assumed that legendary actor James Earl Jones – who provided Vader’s deep, menacing voice – was the man behind the mask.1 The fact that the most powerful man in the galaxy was supposedly black obviously was great news to me, a burgeoning young black film buff and comic book reader who rarely got to see or read about immensely powered black folks in popular media. With this in mind, one can imagine the great disappointment I felt, near the conclusion of Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker removed his father’s mask to reveal the glaringly bright countenance of a white Anakin Skywalker! Of course, I had already been given a hint that this might occur in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) when Vader revealed to Luke Skywalker that he indeed was his father; however, I simply had dismissed this as a lie. Nonetheless, as the credits rolled, I had no other choice but to accept the greatest, most powerful villain of my generation was, like virtually all of his progenitors, a white man. This realization – that all of the greatest supervillains are white – would be heightened when I became an avid comic book reader. My uncle Mike, a pretty good artist in his own right, returned from his stint in the Army with a trunk full of comic books, all of which I read enthusiastically. He had all the greats – Batman, Spider-Man, Superman – along with a few others like low-key classics OMAC: One Man Army Corps and Sgt. Rock. However, amidst his collection was Black Lightning, the first comic I had read that featured a black superhero. While I thoroughly enjoyed Black Lightning, eventually, I found it troubling because the title character – who fought crime in the slums of Superman’s Metropolis – was not as powerful as his counterparts and his villains were lame and white. Even his arch-nemesis, the black crime lord Tobias Whale, was an albino!2 Flash forward some 20-plus years and mainstream comics still remain without many black supervillains. While black superheroes have managed some progress (perhaps punctuated by the brief yet impacting run of DC Comics black imprint Milestone during the early- to mid-1990s), black supervillains have yet to experience such a boon.3 Thus, this essay aims to discern the reasons for such a long, pronounced absence of black supervillains in mainstream comics.4 As I shall postulate here, this absence largely emerges from a host of narratological constraints that have influenced other genres of popular media, particularly film. I shall conclude by considering the problematic nature of racialized villains while also championing a call for the inclusion for more. Defining black, defining supervillain The decision to pursue this topic largely came out of a question I asked several of my friends who read comics: ‘Can you name a major black supervillain?’ This question was posed without any qualifications of what I meant by black or supervillain. Nonetheless, I typically received one of two answers from my friends: (a) ‘I can’t think of any major ones …’ or (b) ‘Well, there’s Apocalypse.’ These limited responses are not surprising given the nature of the question and the reality that black supervillains are few and far between. Of course, this contention of black supervillain scarcity rests largely on qualifying the terms black and supervillain. A consideration of the aforementioned Apocalypse provides me with an opportunity to delimit both terms. Admittedly, defining black is rather difficult and often leads to essentialism. However, for the purposes of this essay, black shall refer to those people whose origins are in sub-Saharan Africa, especially the descendants of African slaves in the United States. Making this distinction is important because while there are a number of supervillains who emerge from Africa or are of African descent, the vast majority is not phenotypically black. As Jared Diamond notes in the influential yet highly controversial Guns, Germs, and Steel, many conflate being African with being black: ‘Most Americans and many Europeans equate native Africans with blacks, white Africans with recent intruders, and African racial history with the story of European colonialism and slave trading … [B]lacks are the sole native Africans familiar to most Americans, because they were brought in large numbers as slaves to the United States’ (1998, p. 377). However, these assumptions about the blackness of Africa largely misconceive the continent’s racial diversity. Diamond notes, ‘Even before the arrival of white colonialists, Africa already harbored not just blacks but … five of the world’s six major divisions of humanity.’5 Most supervillains with African origins – like Apocalypse – typically emerge from or have ties to ancient Egypt.6 As one can imagine, given their well-known wealth and power, the pharaohs have served as a source of inspiration for a number of villains. Apocalypse, perhaps the X-Men’s most powerful foe, emerges from the Age of the Pharaohs. The immensely powered mutant was born En Sabah Nur in the ‘harsh, unforgiving desert of ancient Egypt’ (‘Apocalypse’). Other supervillains – DC Comics stalwart Captain Marvel’s nemesis Black Adam, for example – have similar origins. However, viewing supervillains such as Apocalypse and his ilk as black is indeed problematic. The blackness of ancient Egypt has long been subject to heated debates in academic circles. For example, as recently as 2007, the skin colour of the most well-known of the pharaohs, King Tut, was a source of controversy. During the King Tut exhibition at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute Science Museum, Temple University’s Dr Molefi Asante (2008), the self-described ‘founder of the theory of Afrocentricity’, amongst other scholars, contested the reliability of a forensic reconstruction of King Tut’s head and shoulders. The reconstruction – which includes a disclaimer about the accuracy of skin colour – depicts a browned yet not discernibly black King Tut.7 For scholars such as Asante, concerns about the divorcing of Egypt from Africa and the denial of any black African influence on ancient Egyptian culture are strong and certainly justified given the frequent depictions of Egyptians as European (perhaps best exemplified by Elizabeth Taylor’s portrayal of Cleopatra in the 1963 film).8 Given the continued, heated discourse on the racial makeup of the ancient Egyptians, it seems unwise to wholly classify them as black (or any other race, for that matter). As such, considering the ultra-powerful Armageddon, who actually was born with grey skin, as black is equally problematic. Given that most superheroes operate in urban locales within the United States, the few black villains in mainstream comics are African American and tend to originate from these spaces as well. Most black villains were created as foes to the few black superheroes, and, as I shall elucidate in the next section, because black superheroes are predominantly street-level vigilantes, their villains are limited in terms of power and purpose. Admittedly, there is no general consensus on the term; compendiums such as Mike Conroy’s 500 Comic Book Villains and Gina Misoroglu’s Supervillain Book: The Evil Side of Comic Books do not distinguish villains such as Paste-Pot Pete (later The Trapster), who has trapped heroes such as The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man in his superadhesive glue, from Doomsday, the massive monster who ‘killed’ Superman. However, equating the likes of Armageddon and Doomsday with characters such as Paste-Pot Pete does not seem logical. Granted, most of the villains in mainstream comics are merely aliased or masked common criminal types (bank robbers, gangsters, etc.) or henchmen for military or terrorist outfits. This is not surprising considering that, as scholars Nickie D. Phillips and Staci Strobl conclude in their analysis, organized crime and violent street crime are the two primary crime themes in comic books (2006, p. 314).9 Given how common these types of characters are, it seems that we should distinguish them from the other foes who are far more powerful: criminal masterminds (Kingpin, Lex Luthor), leaders of global terrorist organizations (Baron Zucker of HYDRA), military leaders (Red Skull), immensely powered mutants (Armageddon, Magneto), intergalactic tyrants (Darkseid), and world eaters (Galactus), amongst others. Of these latter types, which for the purposes of this essay I shall refer to as supervillains, very few black villains can be classified as such. While characters such as Armageddon – with his immense power, influence, and determination to conquer the world – epitomize the term supervillain, black villains rarely measure up to such standards. Narrative constraints on black supervillainy The scarcity of black supervillains is inextricably linked to the equal scarcity of black superheroes in mainstream comics, particularly those who have had an ongoing series. As one might imagine, black villains were created primarily as antagonists to those few black superheroes who have had their own ongoing series (although popular titles such as Daredevil and Spider-Man also have produced several black villains). For example, most of Marvel’s black villains originate from either the Black Panther series or the Luke Cage series, both of which feature black protagonists.10 Since DC Comics has historically failed to sustain a series with a black protagonist (outside of its Milestone imprint, in which the characters originally were not part of the DC Universe), it is not surprising that its comics have far fewer black villains than does Marvel.11 As essays on black superheroes (Brown 1999, Lendrum 2005, Scott 2006) have noted, the modern black superhero emerged out of the rather turbulent late 1960s-early 1970s. This period also saw the rise of blaxploitation films, low-budget affairs geared towards the previously ignored black audience. This period gave rise to comics such as Marvel’s Black Goliath, Black Panther, and Luke Cage, Hero for Hire and DC’s Black Lightning, all of which, to a degree, maintained some of the tropes of the blaxploitation films, most notably a hypermasculine protagonist who operates in gritty inner-city settings.12 Like the anti-heroes of the blaxploitation genre, these superheroes’ ties to traditional heroics were always in question: Captain America’s partner The Falcon began life as a pimp/gangster named ‘Snap’ Wilson; Luke Cage gains his powers after being experimented on while in prison (albeit for a crime he did not commit); and Black Lightning is as wanted by the police as the villains he fights. While the villains of the blaxploitation era were often various forms of The Man, the living embodiment of the white power structure, oftentimes, the protagonists of these films frequently would clash with black villains, as well. For example, in Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), one of the genre’s earliest films, rugged detectives Gravedigger Jones (Godfrey Cambridge) and Coffin Ed Johnson (Raymond St Jacques) take down the crooked Reverend Deke O’Malley (Calvin Lockhart), a charismatic black reverend selling fraudulent trips back to Africa to the poor residents of Harlem. Similarly, black superheroes would often combat black villains, many of whom were aliased or costumed petty criminals. For example, Shades and Comanche – who were amongst Luke Cage’s first villains – were mere hoods; the former had acquired a visor that shot concussive beams (similar to that of X-Men leader Cyclops), and the latter was adept with a bow and arrow. Like several of Luke Cage’s black villains (Diamondback, Mangler, Spear, for example), they had ties to Cage while he was imprisoned. Most were low-level mobsters (many were operatives of the criminal organization The Maggia), racketeers, and thieves. Most were motivated by financial gain or revenge against Cage. Because of their origins as common thugs, most black villains – like their superhero counterparts – are often inadequate for adventures beyond the street corners and rooftops of the inner city. This is largely due to the industry’s tendency to use black superheroes (and characters, in general) as a means to address social issues that its primarily white, nigh invulnerable superheroes could not. As Rob Lendrum notes in his essay on 1970s black superheroes, ‘Superman is ineffective at dealing with [street-level crime and social issues]‘ (2005, p. 369). As evidence, he echoes Umberto Eco’s earlier criticisms of Superman as a defender of the status quo, ‘Superman never engages in political or social struggles, he only defeats evil that attempts to seize private property. In fact even his civic consciousness has ignored an entire area of Metropolis populated by African Americans, making him complacent in an oppressive system’ (Lendrum 2005, p. 369). Thus, he distinguishes black superheroes – in this case, Black Lightning, who primarily fought crime in Suicide Slum, the ghettoes of Superman’s Metropolis – from their white counterparts by asserting that tackling street and organized crime is an essential part of their character. Lendrum writes, ‘The masculinity of the black heroes then, encompasses a code of morality that includes an obligation to protect the black community in a better way than has been offered by white agencies prior … The black heroes battle an assortment of criminals and super-villains in their politically charged battle to protect the ghetto streets’ (2005, pp. 369-370). Lendrum’s contention falls in line with what writer Tony Isabella – creator of Black Lightning and Marvel’s Black Goliath – states about his creation, ‘[Jefferson Pierce] became Black Lightning because his sense of morality, his sense of social responsibility, wouldn’t allow him to withhold his gifts, all his gifts, from his community. He comes from a background that tells him that, if you can help, you must help. He’s a devout Christian who puts his belief into deeds’ (Naso 2003). As a result, most of the villains faced by heroes such as Luke Cage and Black Lightning are more akin to Reverend Deke O’Malley – albeit with the occasional superpower or weapon – than to Armageddon. Beyond limiting their goals to organized or street crime, the situating of black villains in the ghetto has had two other effects that prevent them from being major supervillains. First, it has vastly limited the powers and abilities of these villains. For the most part, black villains typically rely on their fighting prowess or access to weaponry. Marvel, in particular, has a litany of black villains who carry heavy weaponry: the aforementioned Comanche, who is proficient with a bow and arrow; the unfortunately named Butcher T. Washington, a weapons expert with a heavily armed tank at his disposal (granted to him by Dionysius in order to combat Hercules); the aptly named Ammo and Shotgun; and several others. This tendency undoubtedly emerges from both the unprecedented number and experiences of black soldiers who served in Vietnam and the complete dominance of heavyweight boxing by black fighters (Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, ‘Smokin” Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, etc.) in the 1970s.13 Ammo and Shotgun, for example, are noted Vietnam veterans (with the latter having served alongside Marvel’s resident gun-wielding vigilante The Punisher) as is Superman foe Bloodsport. However, outside of being able to fight and being able to use conventional and advanced weaponry, black villains – like many black superheroes – are most noted for their raw strength. Of course, superhero comics are rife with larger-than-life, inhumanly strong characters; however, this is particularly true of black villains. The portrayal of hypermasculine black men not only is a requisite of the genre but also is an integral part of racist ideology. As Jeff Brown notes: But not all Others have been constructed as equal by the dominant masculine ideology. While the gay man, the Jewish man, the Asian man (and many other ‘Others’) have been burdened by the castrated softness, the black man has been subjected to the burden of racial stereotypes that place him in the symbolic space of being too hard, too physical, too bodily (1999, p. 28). While Brown is speaking specifically of black superheroes like Luke Cage (whose skin is literally as hard as steel), his findings also apply to black villains. Take for instance characters such as ‘Big’ Ben Donovan, one of Luke Cage’s earliest nemeses. Though he possesses no superpowers nor has been augmented in any fashion, Donovan nonetheless stands nearly eight feet tall; his hands are large and strong enough to palm Daredevil’s face and lift him off of the ground (as he does in Marvel Knights #12)! When black villains are empowered with superhuman abilities, tremendous strength is usually one of them, as is the case with Tombstone, a giant black albino with filed teeth and rock-hard skin, and Man-Ape, who gained super-strength by ‘[b]athing in the [white] gorilla’s blood and eating the gorilla’s flesh’ (‘Man-Ape’).14 A heavy reliance on brawn does not fully distinguish black villains from non-black villains, does not imply that black villains do not have other abilities or powers, nor does it necessarily imply that there are no black villains who utilize their intelligence. There are plenty of non-black villains – prominent examples are Spider-Man villains Ox and The Rhino – who are literally mindless brutes. There are black villains who possess unique abilities outside of the scope of super strength, such as Moses Magnum, whose ‘body generates seismic force which amplifies his natural strength and attunes him to seismic vibrations’ (‘Magnum, Moses’). Furthermore, there are those black villains who are highly intelligent, like Black Manta and Thunderball, who, prior to his criminal career was gamma ray physicist Dr Eliot Franklin. However, what does distinguish black villains from their counterparts is that their great power and intellect rarely (if ever) coincide. Whereas supervillains such as Armageddon, Doctor Doom, Lex Luthor, and Magneto wield both great power and great intellect, black villains often are forced to choose between the two. One need only look to the aforementioned Thunderball, who despite his genius-level intellect relies primarily on his strength, has resorted to utilizing a ball and chain as a weapon, and commits crimes with his band of ruffians, The Wrecking Crew.15 Moses Magnum, perhaps the closest Marvel has gotten to a true black supervillain, is also incapable of wielding great intellect with great power. Before inheriting the ability to generate seismic waves, Magnum was ‘the world’s foremost independent weapons manufacturer’ (‘Magnum, Moses’).16 However, due to his many failures (and despite having actually conquered a small African nation for a short period), Armageddon rendered Magnum incapable of controlling his powers. As a result, characters such as Moses and Thunderball lend further credence to what Jeff Brown writes of the linkage between black men and hypermasculinity: Moreover, the more one’s identity is linked to a hypermasculine persona based on the body, the more uncultured and uncivilized, the more bestial one is considered to be … [B]lacks have historically and symbolically been represented as pure body and little mind … Because of this racist ideological paradox, blacks in Western culture have been forced to shoulder the burdens of the body itself. In contemporary culture black men are often seen more as beasts, as rapists, as gangsters, as crack-heads, and as muggers – literally as bodies out of control – than they are as fathers, as scholars, as statesmen, and as leaders. It is perhaps this split between the mind and the body that marks one of the greatest threats of (self-) destruction facing blacks today (1999, p. 30). This is particularly true in the case of black comic book villains such as Magnum Moses and Thunderball, neither of whom can seem to rectify their powerful minds with their powerful bodies. Both are quite literally black bodies out of control: Magnum can no longer be on solid ground without causing a tremendous earthquake; Thunderball’s power is linked to his proximity to his partner Wrecker’s magic crowbar. Beyond greatly limiting the powers of black villains, situating them in urban locales has also, in many regards, made many of them redeemable figures. Many black villains do not stay villains, and even those who remain so have their villainy seemingly justified. Undoubtedly the product of white liberal guilt and the comic industry’s sudden interest in addressing social issues in the 1970s, the rise of black superheroes coincided with the rise of somewhat sympathetic black villains. As the origins of many of the black villains who emerged out of this period (and even later) suggest, many were victims of circumstance or sought redress through crime for crimes committed against them. For example, before embarking on a life of crime, Chemistro, one of Luke Cage’s early foes, was Mainstream Motors chemist Curtis Carr. Carr had developed the Alchemy Gun, a device capable of transforming one substance into another (e.g. wood to rubber). When company president Horace Claymore became aware of the project, he unjustly fired Carr in an attempt to keep the gun for himself. As a result, Carr (as Chemistro) decided to seek revenge against the company – though he was ultimately foiled by Luke Cage and crippled after accidentally transmuting his own legs into dust. However, later, he reforms and assists Cage in foiling the second Chemistro.17 Thunderball has a similar story: according to his official biography, ‘Dr. Eliot Franklin was a genius-level physicist, nearly on par with Bruce Banner. He even designed a miniature gamma-ray bomb, a feat that eluded Banner. However, his invention was stolen by an unscrupulous executive at Richmond Enterprises, and Franklin was imprisoned after an attempt to steal it back’ (‘Thunderball’). In fact, the black inventor who is incapable of capitalizing off of his creations was indeed a frequent trope of black villains. This fact is writ large in the former Spider-Man villain Rocket Racer. Rocket Racer is the epitome of the redeemable black villain: an inventive mind whose social circumstances forced him into a life of crime only later to embrace a role as a superhero. In his bio, his origin reads, ‘After his mother suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized, Robert Farrell began to feel the financial strain on his family. His talent for science and technology seemed to indicate a promising future, however, he designed a weapon equipped costume and a super charged skateboard only to turn to a life of crime as a means of making some fast cash’ (‘Rocket Racer’). However, after facing and losing to Spider-Man on several occasions, he finally reformed and eventually became a superhero. Of course, the vengeful (even if justifiably so) black man is such a popular trope in mainstream comics largely because writers seemingly have very little else upon which to draw. The most prominent black men in American culture were, for quite some time, the beleaguered, defeated black worker and the hoodlum. Whereas writers have a veritable treasure trove of conquerors, historical figures, movements, and mythologies upon which to rely in the creation of non-white villains, such has not been the case for black villains. Of course, many comic supervillains are derived from historic conflicts such as World War II and the Cold War largely because of the resonance those events have had in American culture. Nazism, for example, has produced some of the greatest comic book supervillains, particularly Captain America’s arch-nemesis The Red Skull (who frequently is among the top-rated villains in polls). Communism has also produced its fair share of supervillains such as Fantastic Four villains The Red Ghost and the Soviet Super Soldiers. Furthermore, Greek and Egyptian mythology have been grist for the mills as well as the gods of both have been frequent villains (and heroes) in both the Marvel and DC universes. Nonetheless, despite having parallels upon which writers could indeed draw, creators have yet to do so for black villains.18 No black supervillains is a good thing, right? If the black villains upon whom I have focused here seem somewhat antiquated and stagnant, it is for good reason: thus far, there has been very little creation of new black supervillains or development of existing ones since the litany of those whom appeared in the 1970s. Those who have emerged since then, in many regards, differ little from their predecessors. While there indeed has been much progress in terms of the number of and portrayal of black superheroes (though there still remains very few black superhero comics), black supervillains have not fared well in recent years. Perhaps the most noteworthy black villain to emerge since the 1970s is Geoffrey Wilder of Marvel’s hit series Runaways. The series focuses on the adventures of a group of super-powered teenagers who have discovered that their parents are members of a secret cabal of villains – the Pride – allied by a pact to bring about the end of the world. Wilder is the leader of the Pride, which has cornered the market on organized crime in Los Angeles since the 1980s (in Runaways continuity, at least). As leader of the Pride, Wilder seemingly wields great power and influence and is indeed the most dire threat to the teenaged adventurers.19 Nonetheless, Wilder’s power is not without serious limitations. For starters, the Pride are actually the servants of the Gibborim, a clan of god-like giants who act as the Pride’s benefactors. The Gibborim, who seek the end of humankind but are too weak to appear on the physical plain long enough to do so, have agreed to spare six members of the Pride and allow them to rule in a post-human world as long as they do their bidding in the present. Thus, Wilder’s power is not inherent but granted. Being granted power, of course, is not necessarily detrimental to being a powerful supervillain. However, of the members of the Pride, Wilder and his wife Catherine are the ones with the most humble beginnings and glaring lack of actual powers or special abilities. The other families of the Pride had some form of or access to a significant superpower even before their meeting with the Gibborim: Frank and Leslie Dean were actually humanoid aliens who can fly and use solar power to do other feats; Gene and Alice Hayes were both telepathic mutants; Robert and Tina Minoru were black magic sorcerers; Victor and Janet Stein were mad scientists; and Dale and Stacey Yorkes were time travellers. However, the Wilders were just common thieves. As such, Wilder’s reliance on the Gibborim, his lack of actual power, his stereotypical origins as a common hood, and, perhaps most importantly, the Pride’s untimely deaths at the hands of their children undermines any notion that he is a major supervillain. That Wilder and the other black villains before him fail to become major supervillains is of no surprise, especially given the mainstream comic industry’s historic struggles with portraying minorities. As a result, one might wonder why I even would question the absence of black supervillains. After all, one need look at the history of perhaps the greatest archetype for the modern supervillain, Fu Manchu, as evidence of the dangers of racializing villains. As Karen Kingsbury notes in ‘Yellow Peril, Dark Hero’, Fu Manchu ‘was indeed built on all too-familiar framework of racist, imperialist assumptions regarding Asians’ (2004, p. 105). As Kingsbury suggests, Fu Manchu’s creator, Arthur Sarsfield Ward, created him as a reaction to rampant street crime in London’s Limehouse district and the fears of the Chinese created by the Boxer Rebellion (2004, pp. 105-106). Undoubtedly, Fu Manchu was the result of intense racial animosities, and he has proven to be the poster child of the dangerous Other and Yellow Peril.20 Furthermore, as Marc Singer notes, superhero comics have always had a problematic track record with depictions of race. He writes: Comic books, and particularly the dominant genre of superhero comic books, have proven fertile ground for stereotyped depictions of race. Comics rely upon visually codified representations in which characters are continually reduced to their appearances, and this reductionism is especially prevalent in superhero comics, whose characters are wholly externalized into their heroic costumes and aliases. This system of visual typology combines with the superhero genre’s long history of excluding, trivializing, or ‘tokenizing’ minorities to create minority superheroes who are marked purely for their race (2002, p. 107). As Singer’s remarks suggest, superhero comics are inherently dangerous ground upon which to represent race. As such, what Anna Beatrice Scott (2006) writes of comics in particular and Stuart Hall (1997) writes of popular culture in general rings true: Neither seems like solid ground upon which to look for true representations of race.21 That stated, while I do not wish to romanticize superhero comics or overemphasize their influence, I do believe that they can provide a means in which to challenge preconceived notions about blacks. Like many other forms of popular media, comic books have been singularly focused: As a result of movements by the likes of activists such as Jesse Jackson and the NAACP, over the course of the last three decades, popular media has overcompensated for its lengthy history of negative depictions of black folks by either greatly limiting or outright eliminating roles in which black men and women portray villains. However, doing so is no more progressive than the tokenism to which Singer refers; in fact, what appears to some as altruism is more akin to an inability (or refusal) to develop complex black characters. However, as Brown indicates in his work on Milestone Comics, ‘[B]lack scholars and cultural critics see the need to develop new models of black masculinity, models that counter the dominant stereotypes not by reforming the hypermasculine image of the black male into an image of refinement, restraint, and desexualization, but by incorporating the associated properties of the mind (e.g., intelligence, control, wisdom) into the popular presentation of black male identity’ (1999, p. 30). One way in which to do so has been achieved – to a degree, as Brown suggests – in the portrayals of more contemplative superheroes in the Milestone universe. Conversely, the same could be achieved in developing complex, contemplative, and powerful black supervillains. Notes on contributor Phillip Lamarr Cunningham is a doctoral candidate in American culture studies at Bowling Green State University. He received his BA in English (Creative Writing – Fiction) from Ohio University and his MA in English (Creative Writing) from Temple University. His research interests include race and representation in film and television, the sociology of sport, and race in American superhero comics. His previous work includes essays in the anthologies Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero and the forthcoming The South in Contemporary Film as well as articles in FlowTV and the Journal of Sport & Social Issues. Notes 1. Though James Earl Jones provided Vader’s voice in the original Star Wars trilogy and in virtually every other appearance of Darth Vader in popular culture, British actor David Prowse primarily portrays Vader in the original trilogy. However, in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1984), Sebastian Shaw plays the unmasked Vader. Besides the various stunt doubles, the only other actor to portray Vader in the films was Hayden Christensen, who filled the role of Vader’s alter ego Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). 2. Furthermore, Tobias Whale is an obvious nod to Marvel Comics’ Kingpin, the rather large (and white) crimelord who would prove to be an arch-nemesis to Daredevil and Spider-Man. Kingpin first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #50 (1967). Tobias Whale first appeared in Black Lightning #1 (1977). 3. That said, mainstream comics seem to be experiencing some regression in terms of black superheroes. Marvel only has three black superhero titles, Black Panther, Doctor Voodoo and War Machine, that are ongoing; DC currently has none (though its Vertigo imprint features a black revision of The Unknown Soldier, which cannot be considered a superhero title in that its protagonist is an insane Ugandan doctor). Amongst the major independents, Image Comics long-running superhero title Spawn featured a black man as the lead character until recently and had also run several volumes of the black superhero comic Shadowhawk. Otherwise, there are virtually no other black superhero titles in circulation. Fortunately, the lack of serials has been tempered somewhat by the rise in status of several superheroes in group titles. For example, Luke Cage is currently the leader of the New Avengers; Black Lightning, after a stint as the Secretary of Education (under Lex Luthor), is an important member of the Justice League of America. 4. In this essay, I privilege DC and Marvel Comics as they are the two most popular comic book presses. Admittedly, there is a heavy emphasis on Marvel, for I am most familiar with Marvel Comics. However, this emphasis is also reflective of the relative dearth of black supervillains in DC Comics. Furthermore, the independent press has not provided many notable examples of black supervillains. Along those lines, there will be a heavy emphasis on black male villains and black masculinity given that, as one might imagine, there are even fewer black female villains than black male villains. 5. According to Diamond, ‘The five major human groups to which Africa was already home by AD 1000 are those loosely referred to by laypeople as blacks, whites, African Pygmies, Khoisan, and Asians’ (1998, p. 378). The only division not to emerge from Africa is the Australian Aborigines and their descendants. 6. Many of Marvel’s villains from Africa also come from Wakanda, the fictional African kingdom ruled by Black Panther, Marvel’s first black superhero to be featured in his serial. Another African villain, and arguably Marvel’s most powerful black supervillain Moses Magnum, is from Ethiopia. The blackness of Ethiopians also has been questioned, though certainly not to the same degree as that of the ancient Egyptians. 7. The disclaimer reads, ‘The features of [Tutankhamen's] face are based on scientific data. But the exact color of his skin and the size and shape of many facial details cannot be determined with full certainty’ (Rose 2007). Photographs of the reconstruction can be seen on the National Geographic Magazine website: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0506/feature1/index.html. 8. Afrocentrism and the blackness of Egypt has been the subject of much heated debate within scholarly circles. I cannot do justice to the myriad of issues involved in the debate in such a limited space. However, in ‘Defending the Paradigm’, Adisa Alkebulan (2007) provides a rather in-depth analysis and literature review of key texts in the debate. Though Alkebulan is defending Afrocentrism as an approach, he also carefully articulates arguments against it. 9. Phillips and Strobl (2006) perform a content analysis of story arcs in 20 popular comics. Of these comics, 12 are superhero comics, including titles such as Justice League of America, Powers, and Ultimate Spider-Man. 10. The series initially began as Luke Cage, Hero for Hire (Issues #1-#16) in 1972. The series retained its numbering but changed its title to Luke Cage, Power Man (Issues #17-49) in 1974. Iron Fist, whose own self-titled series was cancelled, began pairing with Luke Cage in Issue #48 of Luke Cage, Power Man, and his name was added to the title beginning with Issue #50 (1978) and would remain until the series cancellation with Issue #125 (1986). 11. Interestingly enough, the Milestone Comics serials, despite being created and written by predominantly black writers, also did not feature many black villains, let alone supervillains. However, the Milestone comics were DC’s most successful comics featuring black characters, as the DC Universe comics such as Black Lightning failed to last beyond 13 issues. Recently, the Milestone characters were incorporated into the mainstream DC Universe; however, this has yet to result in any new ongoing series for any of these characters. 12. Arguably, Milestone Comics emerges out of the second wave of blaxploitation, the popular ‘hood films’ of the early 1990s. The influence of films such as John Singleton’s Boyz N The Hood (1991) and Menace II Society (1993) can clearly be seen in Milestone’s Blood Syndicate, for example, which centres on a superpowered street gang. 13. In The Brothers’ Vietnam War: Black Power, Manhood, and the Military Experience, Herman Graham III notes, ‘In the early years of American involvement in Vietnam, African Americans enlisted and reenlisted at higher rates than did whites and even displayed a more favorable opinion of the draft’ (2003, p. 15). Furthermore, as James E. Westheider notes, black soldiers in Vietnam received a great deal of praise for their fighting abilities: ‘As they had in previous wars, African Americans in Vietnam once again demonstrated their abilities as warriors. They compiled an impressive record in the early years of the war, and the military noticed it. In 1967, [General William C.] Westmoreland went out of his way to praise the valor and skill of African Americans under his command. His appraisal of black fighting prowess may have surprised and even irritated some of his audience, but it was the opinion of most officers in Vietnam, black or white’ (2007, p. 51). 14. Despite being 6’7”, 215 pounds, Tombstone, unlike many of his predecessors of that size, did not initially have superhuman strength or rock-hard skin. He acquired these powers after exposure to chemicals. However, before he acquired these abilities, he still was quite strong and had filed teeth. 15. The Wrecking Crew – Bulldozer, Piledriver, Thunderball, and Wrecker – share superhuman strength which was accidentally bestowed upon them by Karnilla, the Norn Queen and one of Thor’s arch-enemies. In order to utilize their power, the Crew must be in close proximity to Wrecker’s crowbar, which is where all of Karnilla’s magic is concentrated. On several occasions, Thunderball has sought (and briefly held) sole control of the crowbar. To Marvel’s credit (though this vacillated between writers), Thunderball is usually distinguished as the smartest, most ambitious member of the Wrecking Crew even though he is not the de facto leader. 16. Magnum was granted his powers from Armageddon in return for lifelong servitude. After being thwarted by Luke Cage in his attempt to mine energy from the earth’s core, Magnum falls into a crevice, where he is rescued by Armageddon. 17. The second Chemistro is actually Carr’s former cellmate, Arch Morton. The third Chemistro is Carr’s younger brother, Calvin Carr. 18. Arguably, outside of the common street tough, the voodoo priest has proven to be another common trope for black villains. Villains such as Black Talon, Empress, Hougan, amongst a host of others all utilize a stereotyped form of voodoo. 19. In Runaways #18 (Volume 2), Wilder apparently kills Gertrude Yorkes, one of the teenaged adventurers and daughter of two of his fellow Pride members. 20. Fu Manchu has also served as inspiration for a number of comic book supervillains, namely The Mandarinand Yellow Claw. 21. Scott writes, ‘The implicit argument harbored by comics like DC and Marvel, and later Milestone and a few other indie black titles amassed under the banner of ANIA, The Association of Black Comicbook Publishers, is that there are limited narrative choices to a black character, therefore one must not confuse the issue (and reader) by suggesting that blackness can resonate as itself in scenarios where one would not (but actually “could not”) find black people authentically portraying blackness’ (2006, p. 310). Hall states, ‘[P]opular culture, commodified and stereotyped as it often is, is not at all, as we sometimes think of it, the arena where we find who we really are, the truth of our experience’ (2006, p. 132). References 1. Alkebulan, A. A. (2007) Defending the paradigm. Journal of Black Studies 37:3 , pp. 410-427. 2. http://www.asante.net/biography — Asante, M.K., 2008. Biography [online]. 3. Brown, J. A. (1999) Comic book masculinity and the new black superhero. African American Review 33:1 , pp. 25-42. 21. Conroy, M. (2004) 500 comic book villains Collins & Brown , London 4. Diamond, J. (1998) Guns, germs, and steel: the fates of human societies W.W. Norton & Company , New York 5. Graham III, H. (2003) The brothers’ Vietnam War: black power, manhood, and the military experience University Press of Florida , Gainesville, FL 6. Hall, S. V. Smith (ed) (1997) What is this ‘black’ in black popular culture?’. Representing blackness: issues in film and video pp. 123-134. Rutgers University Press , New Brunswick, NJ 7. Kingsbury, K. Bienstock Anolik, R. and Howard, D. L. (eds) (2004) Yellow Peril, Dark Hero: Fu Manchu and the ‘gothic bedevilment’ of racist intent. The gothic other: racial and social constructions in the literary imagination pp. 104-119. MacFarland , Jefferson, NC 8. Lendrum, R. (2005) The super black macho, one baaad mutha: black superhero masculinity in 1970s mainstream comic books. Extrapolation 46:3 , pp. 360-372. 9. http://marvel.com/universe/Apocalypse — Marvel Universe: Apocalypse. Marvel universe: the official Marvel wiki. Publication date unknown. 10. http://marvel.com/universe/Kingpin — Marvel Universe: Kingpin. Marvel universe: the official Marvel wiki. Publication date unknown. 11. http://marvel.com/universe/Magnum%2C_Moses — Marvel Universe: Magnum, Moses. Marvel universe: the official Marvel wiki. Publication date unknown. 12. http://marvel.com/universe/Man-Ape — Marvel Universe: Man-Ape. Marvel universe: the official Marvel wiki. Publication date unknown. 13. http://marvel.com/universe/Rocket_Racer — Marvel Universe: Rocket Racer. Marvel universe: the official Marvel wiki. Publication date unknown. 14. http://marvel.com/universe/Thunderball — Marvel Universe: Thunderball. Marvel universe: the official Marvel wiki. Publication date unknown. 22. Misoroglu, G. and Eury, M. (2006) The supervillain book: the evil side of comics and Hollywood Visible Ink Press , Canton, MI 15. http://www.comicsbulletin.com/features/107042750449064.htm — Naso, M., 2003. Tony Isabella: black thought. ComicsBulletin [online], Nov 2003. 16. Phillips, N. D. and Strobl, S. (2006) Cultural criminology and kryptonite: apocalyptic and retributive constructions of crime and justice in comic books. Crime Media Culture 2:3 , pp. 304-331. 17. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13992421 — Rose, J., 2007. King Tut exhibit prompts debate on his skin color. NPR.com [online], 28 Aug. 18. Scott, A. B. (2006) Superpower vs. supernatural: black superheroes and the quest for a mutant reality. Journal of Visual Culture 5:3 , pp. 295-314. 23. Singer, M. (2002) ‘Black skins’ and white masks: comic books and the secret of race. African American Review 36:1 , pp. 107-119. 19. Westheider, J. E. (2007) The African American experience in Vietnam: brothers in arms Rowman & Littlefield , Lanham, MD 20. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0506/feature1/index.html — Williams, A.R., 2007. King Tut, unraveling the mysteries of Tutankhamun. National Geographic Magazine [online], 9 Jul. Bookmark with: CiteULike Del.icio.us BibSonomy Connotea More bookmarks

Comic-Con International

Comic-Con | Registration opened this morning at 6 PST for Comic-Con International following technical problems on Nov. 1 that forced organizers to shut down sales after only a handful of badges were purchased. Registration is for daily passes and four-day memberships without Preview Night. Those with the Wednesday preview sold out on the final day of this year’s convention (more could be released later, depending on returns and cancellations). Prices have increased slightly, from $100 to $105 for four-day memberships and from $35 to $37 for single-day passes ($20 for Sunday). Comic-Con International will be held July 20-24 in San Diego. [Comic-Con International]

Legal | Sankaku Complex wades into Tokyo’s resurrected “anti-loli” legislation, and finds the revised bill has been expanded to target manga, anime and video games that “‘improperly glorify or emphasise’ illegal sexual acts, such as rape, groping, BDSM, voyeurism, exhibitionism, etc., by extension including underage sexual activity as well.” The previous version focused on the depictions of “fictional youths,” a controversial term that’s been dropped from the legislation. [Sankaku Complex]

Huntress credit

Creators | Don MacPherson attempts to find out why Paul Levitz is credited on the Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series as the creator of the DC Comics character Huntress, and why artists Joe Staton and Bob Layton were not. He doesn’t get very far. [Eye on Comics]

Publishing | Just 13 percent of comics released in November include work by women, according to one survey. [Ladies Making Comics via Bleeding Cool]

Publishing | “When Killing Spider-Man is Your Best Idea, You’re Out of Ideas.” I just like the headline. [Dinosaurs in F-14s]

Conventions | Kelly House reports on Sunday’s Portland (Oregon) Comic Book Show. [The Oregonian]

Creators | Michael Cavna writes about the recent visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan by six cartoonist: Jeff Keane, Rick Kirkman, Mike Luckovich, Stephan Pastis, Tom Richmond and Garry Trudeau. [The Washington Post]

Silver Surfer #1

Creators | Writer Greg Pak discusses the Silver Surfer miniseries and Marvel’s Chaos War. [Cosmic Book News]

Creators | Crime author Denise Mina talks briefly about her work, including the graphic novel A Sickness in the Family. [Publishers Weekly]

Pop culture | Steve Murray (aka Chip Zdarsky) takes on the troubled $60-million Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark: “The villainous Green Goblin looks like a child’s drawing of a Double Dragon video game villain if the child only had a green pencil crayon. Carnage, another Spider-Man villain, looks like a snowboarding jack o’ lantern covered in unerotic candle wax. And of course there’s the brand new villain, Swiss Miss, who looks like Magneto if he cross-dressed and then walked into a silverware store. To be fair, there are only thousands of Spider-Man comics one can look at for character ideas, so I guess it just made sense to start from scratch.” [National Post]

Superman

Legal | A federal judge has lifted the delay in the ferocious legal battle over the rights to Superman, allowing attorneys for Warner Bros. to proceed with deposition of the families of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright issued the stay last month while he considered an appeal on a procedural ruling, but on Tuesday he modified the order, permitting the studio to “proceed with full discovery of [heirs] Joanne Siegel, Laura Siegel Larson, Jean Peavy and Mark Peavy.” The depositions are expected to begin immediately. [THR, Esq.]

Retailing | Bookstores had their worst month of the year in September as sales slipped 7.7 percent, to $1.51 billion. [Publishers Weekly]

Piracy | Colleen Doran argues that it’s the middle-class artist, not the rich corporations, who are the real victims of digital piracy. [The Hill]

Crime | Houston police have arrested two people believed to be responsible for stealing thousands of dollars worth of comics from stores around the city. Bedrock City Comic Company was hit at least four times. [My Fox Houston]

The Tikitis

Publishing | Calvin Reid looks at the latest attempt by Humanoids to gain a foothold in the U.S. market. “Our approach has changed,” says Bob Silva, editor-in-chief of the new Humanoids U.S. Office. “We’re set up to be more efficient. We’ve learned a lot from the previous experiences here.” [Publishers Weekly]

Publishing | Former Marvel editor Nate Cosby pulls back the curtain on superhero-comics solicitations: “Superhero comics have been an event culture for a long time. The big difference now, in my opinion, is that the companies lost patience with waiting for infrequent events to pad the bottom line, and decided to program them non-stop (the equivalent of putting nothing but Bruckheimer movies out every week of the year, instead of holding them for the summer and holidays). When the returns started diminishing, the companies tried going back to focusing on individual ongoing titles, but marketed each book as if they were all huge events (again, to pad the bottom line). This creates confusion in the marketplace. It’s easy math: Huge Event x Huge Marketing Push = Huge Sales Huge Marketing Push / 30 Mini-Events = So-So Sales & Lack Of Event Individuality” [NateCosBOOM]

X-Men #1

Publishing | John Jackson Miller compares sales of X-Men #1 — recognized by Guinness World Records as the highest-selling single comic book — to those of One Piece and finds that, well, they’re really difficult to compare: “I think the takeaway is that One Piece, as a tankouban, stands a good chance to be the international record-holder when it comes to bound-edition bookshelf comics (without undertaking an exhaustive survey of all European and Japanese comics, I can’t go farther than that), while X-Men Vol. 2, #1 very likely holds the worldwide title when it comes to periodical newsrack comics with staples.” [The Comichron]

Publishing | Marvel teamed with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media to produce an eight-page Spider-Man comic that spotlights job growth in the city. The comic, by Warren Simons and Todd Nauck, was distributed in Tuesday’s edition of the New York Daily News, is available as a free download using the Marvel App. Mayor Mike Bloomberg liked Phil Jimenez’s depiction of him on the cover so much that he’s adopted it as his Twitter profile picture. [New York Daily News, Marvel]

Creators | Paul Levitz talks about his return to writing, Taschen Books’ 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, and his tenure as president and publisher of DC. [Publishers Weekly]

Brian K. Vaughan

Creators | Brian K. Vaughan discusses the end of Ex Machina, the planned movie adaptations of Y: The Last Man and Runaways, and his television work: “… This is the first time in 10 years that I haven’t had some kind of major comic-book deadlines, so it’s been nice that my sellout television day job has afforded me the opportunity to sit back and decide what I really care about before having to write something just to keep the lights on.” [The A.V. Club]

Creators | Brian Heater kicks off a two-part interview with Roger Langridge. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Manga | Carl Horn and Kristy Valenti delve into one of my favorite series, Eiji Otsuka and Housui Yamazaki’s The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. [comiXology]

Comics | David Brothers recommends five comics for die-hard Harry Potter fans. [Moviefone]

Politics | TV’s Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, has swapped his tattered denim pants for a badge, joining an armed volunteer posse formed by controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio to target smugglers and businesses in Maricopa County suspected of employing illegal immigrants. Update: Ferrigno’s wife Carla Ferrigno asserts that her husband wasn’t sworn in as a member of the posse and that his quotes were taken out of context. [Reuters, via Gawker]

Legion election ballot

Today DC Comics revives an old tradition by allowing fans to select the next leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Through the wonders of 31st-century 21st-century technology, readers no longer have to mail in their votes. Instead, they visit the Legion election website and simply click on one of the 25 candidates. (Twenty-five?)

If you’ve not had the time to brush up on the contenders, you might consider the well-reasoned endorsement by the Legion Abstract fan blog of Phantom Girl, “one of the longest-serving of all Legionnaires, yet has never been leader.” Michael at The Legion Ominicon voted for Gates, the socialist insectoid teleporter, “just to see what [writer] Paul Levitz would do with him.”

On the DC Universe blog, Editor Brian Cunningham notes that Legion elections “can have some very interesting consequences.”

“A reader poll throws us a potential creative curve ball,” he writes. “I recall during the 1980s, the readership elected longtime Substitute Legionnaire Polar Boy — an unlikely turn of events, given the illusion that the Legionnaires themselves were voting. But Paul, who wrote the series at the time, just rolled with it and crafted some very clever and entertaining stories around it.”

Voting ends on Nov. 10. The winner will be revealed in December’s Legion of Super-Heroes #8.

Legion of Super-Heroes 5

Paul Levitz‘s return to the Legion universe has been under way for the past several months (writing the character’s early days in Adventure Comics and the regular ongoing stories in Legion of Super-Heroes). With a gamut of issues already out I thought it would be a great time to discuss his work. Plus I got an opportunity to find out what it was like to be a student of Frank McCourt, as well as how a journalism class during that era helped strengthen his writing ability. My thanks to Levitz for indulging my questions and DC’s Alex Segura for his assistance in facilitating the interview. This Wednesday, September 22, will see the release of Legion of Super-Heroes 5.

Tim O’Shea: Before our Legion discussion, I would be remiss if I did not ask about being taught English at Stuyvesant High School by Frank McCourt (as mentioned at this Midtown Comics Times Square signing in May 2010). What were some of the major lessons you took from his instruction? Did you stay in touch with McCourt after high school–did he know how successful you became as a writer?

Paul Levitz: McCourt was teaching English, not yet officially Creative Writing, when I was his student. Vivid memories include the range of literature he opened our eyes to—Achebe and Mishima, the examples that still stick with me, and their very different world views and life experiences. He was very encouraging to me about my interests in comics, and my fanzine publishing, which was great. We stayed lightly in touch—I recall sending him the trade of Great Darkness when it first came out, and an email note back—and saw each other several times after he became an author. The best moment was a fund raising dinner for Stuy’s 100th, at which he presented me with an award (predominantly for my work on the 100th Anniversary book about Stuy). The other lesson, from a distance in time, is the power a good teacher has—looking at the long list of writers who came through his classes over the years, and our attachment to him. It’s one of the reasons I’m starting to teach now.

O’Shea: Also in the same YouTube video you mentioned briefly that you took a “a good journalism course” at New York University. I was curious as to why that class left such a good impression on you?

Levitz: My natural speech pattern is fairly long sentences, and somewhat pedantic. My early writing tended either to mimic that too much, or to build sentences for my characters that had far too many short, colorless words. The teachers (whose names I sadly don’t recall offhand) were two NY POST editors living through the shift from the left-leaning and gentrified POST under Dorothy Schiff to Murdoch’s early, right-leaning and British style tab…but in between telling tales of their suffering, they taught parsing sentences well, and the joy of brevity.

O’Shea: With the Adventure Comics series, you’re retelling the origin of the Legion. Are you re-examining the origins to re-examine/clarify the continuity of the group and/or as a means to set dynamics in place that you can utilize in the main Legion title?

Levitz: Geoff raised the challenge of build a trade that can be a starting place for reading the Legion. I think I took it too literally, and that led to doing stories that among other qualities reach back to the team’s beginnings. But while I’m there, I’ve been able to put in place quite a number of nuggets that are picked up on in the current tales.

O’Shea: This is your third round writing the Legion, as you have matured as a writer, has your understanding of certain members of the cast evolved as well–are there characters you’re more comfortable writing than you were on your first or second runs on the property?

Levitz:Might be too soon to tell—there’s a lot of them I haven’t had as much time with as I’d like yet. Hope so.

O’Shea: Was writing two monthly books your idea, or did DC editorial suggest one of the books after you had committed to the other?

Levitz: It sort of evolved circumstantially. Originally it was Legion in ADVENTURE, then a solo LEGION, then it was well, might as well keep running them in ADVENTURE too.

O’Shea: In the Legion book, the current storyline features the kidnapping of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad’s twin children. Were you hesitant to build a plotline around putting the heroes’ children at risk, given the recent negative reaction to the death of Liam (Roy Harper’s daughter) in the Justice League: Cry for Justice?

Levitz: I haven’t followed the reactions you’re referring to, but I think there’s a reality to children being at risk in the world, and certainly in the melodramatic world of the Legionnaires’ lives, it’s not unexpected.

O’Shea: I found it interesting that in addition to the large cast that the Legion enjoys, you’re also exploring the future of the Green Lanterns in the main Legion title. What motivated you to explore the Lanterns in the Legion series?

Levitz: Started doing that almost 30 years ago…why stop now?

O’Shea: In the most recent issue of Adventure Comics, Superboy “knows he’s destined for greatness as Superman, but how does a teenager deal with that knowledge?” Given how deeply examined Superboy and Superman have been explored by storytellers over the year, how challenging was it to tackle a story like this with a fresh perspective?

Levitz: There’s a literary concept called exhaustion, which looks at the literally thousands of tales told of these characters with some amazement that anything new can be added. I’m lucky to be working in a portion of their mythos that hasn’t been as fully explored.

O’Shea: In ADVENTURE COMICS #519, you take the story to the past and Smallville. Can you talk about which residents of Smallville we get to see, or would that be giving too much away?

Levitz: Not too many ‘name’ characters, but there’s a few fun moments at a barn raising.

O’Shea: As a person who wrote monthly comics in the 1970s and 1980s, how does the pacing of comics compare now to then, if at all?

Levitz: The largest shift—which I’ve far from mastered—is that in the days of my previous work, collected editions were a rarity, and now a near certainty. This means you should simultaneously build stories to work as serial dramas in monthly bites and in their ultimate book format; no mean trick. The other pacing shifts are more subtle, and vary more from writer to writer, so we’ll see how my version goes over.

O’Shea: Given how well-versed you are in Legion community, while writing these new stories is all the institutional knowledge of the characters solely in your head–or do you have the books on a shelf nearby for reference?

Levitz: I’ve already made a mistake or two relying on what’s in my head, but I often go to the books themselves, for reference and for inspiration. It’s no secret that my library has an awful lot of comics on its shelves…

Yesterday editor Eddie Berganza also shared some artwork and details on an upcoming project, this one being Superman/Batman‘s 75th issue, and I’m starting to think maybe funkygreenjerusalem was right about the first teaser. Here’s what Berganza has to say about the issue:

Superman/Batman #75

Now under that icon, some very impressive talent has made its way through its pages. And this couldn’t be more true of the book that will be coming out soon. Starting with an awesome cover by Frank Quitely, the lead story is by Paul Levitz, who finally gets to team the Legion of Super-Heroes with Batman as well as Superman and Superboy, all lusciously illustrated by Jerry Ordway, no stranger to Strange Visitors. But this is just the beginning. What follows is a special section featuring 2-page strips. My homage to WEDNESDAY COMICS.

It starts with Steve Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen doing the only sequel they ever will to IT’S A BIRD… with “It’s A Bat, ” a story of how an editor tries to get a special section like this going. It continues with Billy Tucci and Peter Tomasi with Gene Ha each playing up the grand adventures of our heroes, while Adam Hughes, David Finch, J.T. Krul, Francis Manapul, Duncan Rouleau, Jill Thompson, Michael Green with Mike Johnson and Rafael Albuquerque and Shane Davis all show us how the Superman and Batman families have been inspired by these two icons. From Supergirls to super-pets, and a wild take on a Lex Luthor and Joker teaming by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo, it has it all, but don’t just listen to me. Go check it out!

The issue goes on sale Aug. 25.