Bleeding Cool noticed that just last week the company submitted two versions  of a new logo to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The design, which you can see at right, depicts a D flipping back to reveal a C below; one version includes the words “DC Comics” below, the other “DC Entertainment.”

Although the “flipping” aspect of the logo may not be obvious in its static form, it’s likely designed with animation in mind, for inclusion at the beginning of movies, television shows and video games. How that design might translate to comics remains to be seen.

Comic Book Resources has contacted DC for comment but received no response.

The publisher’s current logo debuted in May 2005 as part of an effort to emphasize the DC brand across all media. Designed by Josh Beatman of Brainchild Studios, the “swoosh” replaced the Milton Glaser-created “bullet” the company had used in one form or another since 1977.

Last year, former Sonic the Hedgehog artist Ken Penders announced that he had retained the rights to all the characters and story lines he created while working on the comic (from issue #11 to #135), which is published by Archie Comics. Penders has sued the game companies Sega and Electronic Arts, claiming copyright infringement, and Archie Comics has sued Penders, asking the court to make a declaratory judgment on the rights question; that case is scheduled to go to court next month. It looks like a long shot, but if the court finds in Penders’s favor, Archie will be in a pickle, as they have not only reprinted those issues in digest form but also continued the storylines Penders originated, using the characters he now claims to own. (I reached out to the Archie Comics folks but they had no comment.)

In the meantime, Penders is keeping busy: He just revealed a redesign of Julie-Su, Lara-Su’s mother, for the graphic novel series he is working on, The Lara-Su Chronicles. It’s going to be an odd series, because even if the court decides that Penders should have the rights to the characters he created while working for Archie, they won’t give him the rights to Knuckles or Sonic, so the cast will be all supporting characters. On the other hand, it would be an interesting alternate universe for Sonic fans. Stay tuned!

Magento's downloadable costume from "Marvel vs. Capcom 3"

The release of downloadable content pack for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be delayed almost three months, apparently giving the video-game publisher time to remove the Magneto uniform that drew objections from Spain’s royal family.

According Capcom-Unity, the “Ancient Warrior” costume pack, originally set to debut today, now won’t be available until March 6 in the United States and March 7 in Europe. When it does arrive, however, it will contain only Firebrand, Arthur and Hulk; Magneto’s House of M-inspired skin will be gone.

The dispute dates back to 2005, when artist Mike Mayhew used the official portrait of King Juan Carlos as the basis for his cover of The Pulse: House of M Special. Except for the heads and the colors of their sashes, the images of Carlos and Magneto were virtually identical; even the medals and wall patterns matched (see below).

Representatives of the royal family hinted at legal action, but Marvel apologized and quickly replaced the cover, seemingly putting an end to the matter. But then, just last month, the uniform reappeared in promotional art for the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 “Ancient Warrior” pack, sparking another round of objections from the royal house, which contends that, like the Mayhew cover, the downloadable costume may infringe on the copyright of the original portrait.

Insisting that it’s seeking to prevent the “misuse” of the figure of the king and Spanish military uniform, the palace asked Spanish game distributor Koch Media to remove the skin.

King Juan Carlos of Spain, left, and Mike Mayhew's Magento

(via Joystiq)

A couple of years ago, Image published Sky Pirates of Neo Terra, a fantasy-adventure miniseries based on the upcoming Nintendo DS game of the same name, and featuring gorgeous art by Camilla d’Errico (Nightmares & Fairy Tales, Burn). Now, with the impending debut of the game for Facebook and Apple devices, Day 21 Studios is launching a Sky Pirates of Neo Terra webcomic by d’Errico and Green Wake writer Kurtis J. Weibe.

The comic kicks off this weekend, with new installments appearing every other Friday telling side stories of characters in the Neo Terra world that weren’t explored in the Image comic.

“It’s in the stories that we don’t read or see in the main plot that characters can often come alive,” d’Errico said, “and in these snapshots we pull back the curtains to really get to know who they are.”

Day 21 is also giving away original pages of d’Errico’s art on the Sky Pirates Facebook page. You can see pages from the comic below:

Following the runaway success of Batman: Arkham Asylum and its sequel Arkham City, don’t look for Warner Bros. Interactive to return to movie tie-ins anytime soon.

Instead, the new Warner Bros. Games Montreal has been given a mandate: to just make good video games. Specifically, good games based on DC Comics properties. “It’s really about make the game what it needs to be and forget the movies,” Reid Schneider, the studio’s head of production, told Canadian Business.

“If you look over the past decade of superhero games, there were two. The first one was when Neversoft made Spider-Man — I think it was back on the PS1. People were like, ‘Wow, this is really good,’ and then a couple of things came out that were okay,” he said. “Then Rocksteady came out with Arkham Asylum and that again changed the expectations. If you look at the similarities between the two, they weren’t based on movies per se. They were just taking that really rich fiction from the comic books and exploring the characters. It’s not about hitting the movie date or some arbitrary date — it was giving the game the time it needs to be successful and really just concentrating on the quality of it.”

To that end, the Montreal studio is collaborating with DC Comics to develop several video games — there’s one set for release next year, in fact — but the details, and even the names, remain a secret.

“We’re definitely working closely with DC on different titles, yet to be announced,” said studio head Martin Carrier. “It’s one of the reasons we talk to Geoff Johns and Jim Lee on a regular basis. It’s interesting for our geeky side to be in touch with those guys, especially now that they’ve relaunched all the 52. It’s a good time to be working with DC. There’s so much energy going on there.”

Although I fell off the Angry Birds bandwagon some time ago, based on the number of Halloween costumes I saw and all the Angry Birds merchandise on my nephew’s Christmas wishlist, the game still has a lot of devoted fans. Rovio, the game’s creators, have released another round of holiday-themed levels this month, and with them come a new Angry Birds webcomic, featuring holiday-stressed birds trying to find the missing Mighty Eagle. There are five strips up now, with more to come.

1. What comic-related gift or gifts would you recommend giving this year, and why?
2. What gift (comic or otherwise) is at the top of your personal wish list, and why?

We’ve gotten back a bunch of suggestions, which we’ll run between now and the end of the week. So let the merriment commence …

Jim McCann

1. Exclusive 2011 Janet Lee Holiday Ornaments
Every year, Janet does about 12 ornaments, three sets of four. This year, she has done Hipster Animals, Scary Toys and Art Nouveau Angels. They are signed and dated, and at the end of the season, that’s it! She stops making them. I’ve been collecting them since 2007, and now our tree is almost completely filled with Janet’s art. You can buy them exclusively through her Etsy shop.

Oh, and if you’re REALLY nice, she MAY have a very limited Dapper Men ornament or two. Just ask!

2. This year, for myself, I’m going with a mix of Blu-Rays (portable Blu-Ray player, please, Santa!) and books. But the thing I’m REALLY excited for is the hardcover edition of the Complete Ripley novels, by Patricia Highsmith. Most people only know of Ms. Highsmith through The Talented Mr. Ripley (and classic film lovers through Strangers On a Train). There were actually five Tom Ripley novels, and the collection looks amazing. Why these books? My spouse recently Tweeted a quote from John Lithgow that struck me as a writer: “Duality, duplicity, truth and deception, good becoming bad and vice-versa are crucial elements of great storytelling.” Highsmith was and remains an unsung hero of mastering that, so I hope I learn something in the process!

Happy Holidays from the Dapper Lariosa-McCann household!

Jim McCann is the writer of Return of the Dapper Men and its upcoming sequel, Marvel Zombies Christmas Carol, Hawkeye:Blindspot and the upcoming Mind The Gap.

Matt Kindt

The Sixth Gun, Vol. 1

1. The gift I’d recommend would be The Sixth Gun trade #1 and #2. There are very few comics that are just good fun well-told stories. And even less that are also westerns. And it’s got a giant mummy. Seriously. I love it.

2. What I really want is for publishers to start bringing back comic book subscriptions. And I don’t mean iPad notifications. I want them to mail me single issues as they come out and wrapped in those brown kraft paper envelopes that are open on the ends.

Matt Kindt is the writer of the Robotman comic you can find in issues of DC’s My Greatest Adventure and artist on the Oni graphic novel The Tooth. He’s also the man behind Revolver, 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man, Super Spy and the upcoming Supernatural.

Daryl Gregory

1. For the kids in your life, you can’t do better than the e-Comic. It’s as thin as a monthly comic book, with a folding screen that opens to allow two-page spreads. It’s high-res, so you can read word balloons easily while still be able to take in all of the surrounding art. The e-Comic comes loaded with every Jack Kirby comic, under a generous licensing deal with the Kirby estate. Plus, it only costs $25. When it’s invented in 2018, give one to every kid on your Christmas list, and SAVE COMICS.

Journey into Mystery

Until then, take the kids to a comics shop and buy them something great. My son highly recommends Journey Into Mystery by Kieron Gillen — it’s loads of fun.

2. I very rarely allow myself to play video games–nothing destroys writing time like a good game–but every Christmas I take a week off and do nothing but hang out with my family, eat and play with toys. I usually ask for one video game, and for that week I throw myself into it. Previous stockings have been stuffed with Battlefield 142, Company of Heroes, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal… and this year I want to play Arkham City. There, I’ve said it. Fortunately, it’s also on my son’s wish list, so I don’t have to use up one of wishlist slots I usually reserve for specialty beer. So you know what that means: Dad gets to punch the Joker while buzzed on Westemalle Tripel.

Daryl writes Planet of the Apes for BOOM! Studios. His novel Raising Stony Mayhall was named one of the best SF books of the year by Library Journal, and his short story collection Unpossible and Other Stories was named one of the best SF books of the year by Publisher’s Weekly. Daryl loves one of them better than the other, but won’t say which–it would hurt their feelings. You can reach him at darylgregory.com.

Jim “Zub” Zubkavich

Green Wake

1) There are a ton of great new comic titles to give/receive this year. High on my giving list are:

• 27 for music-loving friends
• Atomic Robo for people who crave action/comedy/pure joy
• Chew Omnivore Edition for dark-hearted humorous pals
• Green Wake for horror and mystery readers
• Return of the Dapper Men for fans of faerie tales and the fantastic
• The Sixth Gun for the western aficionado
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ultimate Collection for Gen X-Yers
• Who is Jake Ellis? to the espionage-thriller reader
• and One Soul for the intellectual poet in your gift-giving circle.

See? Comics for everybody!

2) Original comic art is a unique and classy thing to give a comic fan and it’s always high on my personal wish list. Even less expensive options like a convention head sketch or random comic page original can make for a great show piece in the home of a fan. I have a lot of framed originals and they give the right touch of geek chic to my place. Getting an original from my favorite artists, new or old, is now something I look for throughout the year and Christmas is no exception.

Jim Zub is the co-creator and writer of Skullkickers from Image Comics and the creator of Makeshift Miracle, UDON’s online graphic novel serializing with new pages every week at www.makeshiftmiracle.com.

Jamie S. Rich

Petrograd

1. If you’re giving the gift of comics, than my cohorts at Oni Press have the two books from 2011 that I think have the broadest appeal and will get you the most mileage this holiday season. First, there is Petrograd, Philip Gelatt and Tyler Crook’s riveting alternative history of the assassination of Rasputin. It’s got danger and intrigue and Tyler is one hell of an artist. The handsome hardcover package has a lot of flair and though the $30 price point is totally reasonable, it would never occur to the person you’re giving it to that you were at all frugal.

Second is Ray Fawkes’ amazing One Soul. Ray has done an amazing thing here, using the standard nine-panel grid to tell the concurrent stories of 18 different people spanning the ages, separated by space and time. Though it’s possible to read each life individually front to back, the experience of reading each one moment by moment, cycling through all 18 on every double-page spread is exhilarating. One Soul is both emotionally moving and intellectually thought provoking, and despite all the formalist experimentation, a damn good read. Also another wonderfully designed, smartly priced hardcover.

More self-serving for me, and a higher ticket item, is the Madman 20th Anniversary Monster, coming from Image in just a few short weeks. I helped Mike Allred put this massive hardcover together, and I even wrote the two-page framing sequence that he and Jim Valentino drew to tie it all together. Mike has done a new story, there are 20+ all-new one-pagers from the likes of Matt Wagner, Darwyn Cooke, Patrick McEown, and all three Hernandez Bros., and also every pin-up we could get our hands on from the last 20 years of the series. Yes, that includes masters like Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, and Frank Frazetta, and also relative newbies like Joëlle Jones, Emily Carroll, and Chris Samnee. There are over 260 pages and the whole shebang is 11″ x 17″, the same size as the Wednesday Comics collection.

2. There are three items I would really like this Christmas. All of them are expensive collectors editions of material by artists that have been extremely influential on my creative development, but that I have yet to save the pennies to buy myself. They are:

(1) The Blu-Ray edition of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, bundled with the DVD of his second film The Magnificent Ambersons.
(2) The Smiths Complete–All of the Smiths albums remastered with Johnny Marr at the boards. I’d love the Super Deluxe box with the book and the dual version on vinyl and CD, but I’d settle for the straight CD versions, too. The music is the thing, and what I have heard of these new mixes is quite astonishing.
(3) The Who: Quadrophenia Director’s Cut: Super Deluxe Box Set: Okay, here is one where I have to have the massive version with the bonus 5.1 disc and all the books and such. Quadrophenia is like a religious experience for me. My first book, Cut My Hair, is named for a track on the original album, and so this new opening of the vaults is utterly essential.

Both the Smiths and the Who, as well as Orson Welles, helped change my artistic path when I was a teenager, and they still provide inspiration to this day.

Jamie S. Rich is a writer who regularly publishes through Oni Press, and quite often with the likes of Joëlle Jones, Nicolas Hitori de, and soon Natalie Nourigat and Dan Christensen. His most recent comic book release was Spell Checkers, vol. 2: Sons of a Preacher Man. You can read his sort-of kind-of frequently updated blog at http://www.confessions123.com.

Ryan Cody

Bone

1. The one comic related gift I always recommend is the Complete Bone by Jeff Smith. My children read it cover to cover at least once a year. Jeff Smith’s epic is a great read, fun and adventurous for any age group. For adults I would recommend American Vampire, it’s been my favorite book this year as I catch up on it. You can also never go wrong with Hellboy. A more unique gift for a comic or pop culture fan would be original art. Full size comic pages look gorgeous framed and hung and there is probably artwork out there to fit all budgets.

2. I don’t usually buy a lot of comics myself, but I’d be more than happy to get some original art, or a nice sketchbook or two from my favorite artists. An original Sean Murphy, Cory Walker or Mignola page and I’d be one happy camper Christmas morning.

Ryan Cody is an artist and writer whose past credits include ICARUS, Jesus Christ: In the Name of the Gun V2 and Villains. See more of his work at http://super75comics.wordpress.com/

Be sure to come back tomorrow for more suggestions!

King Juan Carlos of Spain, left, and Mike Mayhew's Magento

In 2005, Marvel drew the displeasure of Spain’s royal family when the official portrait of King Juan Carlos — right down to the sash, medals and wall pattern! — was used as the basis of Mike Mayhew’s image of Magneto for the cover of The Pulse: House of M Special. There were rumblings of legal action, followed by an apology and a new cover.

More than six years later, Magneto’s Juan Carlos-inspired uniform is back, this time as a downloadable skin for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. And so, too, are the royal family’s objections, apparently.

Courtesy of Kotaku and a Google translation comes word from the Madrid newspaper Heraldo that Zarzuela Palace has asked Spanish game distributor Koch Media to remove the skin, which is virtually identical to the uniform worn by Juan Carlos in his role as Captain General of Armies of the King.

Contending that, like the Mayhew cover, the downloadable costume may infringe upon the copyright of the original portrait, the royal house insists it is seeking to prevent the “misuse” of the figure of the king and Spanish military uniform. For its part, Koch says it’s not explicitly stated that the uniform is based on Juan Carlos’.

Magneto’s House of M uniform will reportedly be available for digital download beginning Dec. 20.

Magneto's downloadable costume from "Marvel vs. Capcom 3"

From Francesco Francavilla's poster for "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3"

Marvel has announced the addition of Rocket Raccoon and Dead Rising protagonist Frank West to the ever-expanding roster of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, in the process unveiling new posters from Captain America & Bucky artist Francesco Francavilla and Capcom’s Shinkiro.

Check out the full images below. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be released Nov. 15 in North America for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

By Francesco Francavilla

By Shinkiro

Alfred At Your Service

Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred Pennyworth has proven himself useful in many situations, whether it’s helping out at dinner parties, seeing Wayne’s “friends” out with a fresh-baked muffin or even using his archery skills to help Batman fight crime. Now Alfred is moving into new territory by hosting a search engine, Alfred At Your Service, to promote the release of the well-reviewed video game Batman: Arkham City. While it operates like an ordianry search engine, putting in Batman-related phrases like “Harvey Dent” and “Crime Alley” produces quotes from Alfred about the search term.

Ask Jeeves better watch his back.

Via MTV Splash Page

from Attract Mode

The fourth issue of the humor anthology The Devastator arrives Nov. 9, and the theme for this issue is video games, It includes contributions from James Kochalka, Danny Hellman, Corey Lewis and many more. Above is a brief taste of Kochalka’s contribution; if you’d like to see the whole thing, you can find a preview of a few pages from the book on their site. And hey, if you pre-order it before Nov. 9, you’ll get a mystery prize!

A trailer for the book is available after the jump.

That Warner Bros. is looking to develop more DC properties for its rapidly expanding games division is no secret — a new studio in Montreal is being set up specifically for that task. But what could this mysterious title be?

Kotaku notes that while a Superman game may be the obvious guess, given the release of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in June 2013, it hardly requires a veil of secrecy. After all, movie tie-ins are par for the course.

If not Superman, then might it be Suicide Squad, mentioned by DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns at Comic-Con International 2010? That’s certainly a possibility, although Johns told CBR at the time that “It’s going to take years to make.” So 2012, even late 2012, is probably too quick of a turnaround.

So if it isn’t Superman or Suicide Squad, then what? DC’s library is vast, making it difficult to narrow down the choices. Young Justice is on Cartoon Network, with Green Lantern debuting next month, and a new Batman animated series arriving in 2013. Live-action Deadman and Spectre projects are also in development at The CW and Fox, but they don’t seem well-suited for video games.

Kotaku’s Luke Plunkett is pretending it’s Aquaman — “It’ll be like BioShock. With beards.” — which seems as good of a guess at any at this point.

Age of Apocalypse

News and reports from the New York Comic Con rolled out even after the lights were turned off on Sunday; here are a few of them, as well as some tidbits we missed the first time around:

• Marvel announced an ongoing Age of Apocalypse series by David Lapham and Roberto De La Torre, spinning out of the current “Dark Angel Saga” storyline in Uncanny X-Force. [CBR]

• Designer Chip Kidd is writing a Batman book called Batman: Death by Design with art by Dave Taylor. It’s due out next summer. [ComicsAlliance]

• USA Today spotlighted Captain Brooklyn, due next May from Jimmy Palmiotti, Frank Tieri and Amanda Conner. The three-issue miniseries will be published by Image Comics. [USA Today]

• Following the convention, Marvel has released pages from the Prep & Landing story that will appear in a few of their upcoming November comics. [CBR]

• Marvel also released the fiery Phoenix teaser image that made the rounds at the show. [CBR]

• Matt Fraction and Nathan Fox are working on a comic about Osama bin Laden’s capture and death for the December issue of GQ magazine. [Multiversity Comics]

• Joe Keatinge and Andre Szymanowicz are teaming up on a new ongoing Image series called Hell Yeah. [CBR]

• Green Wake writer Kurtis Wiebe reveale dthe Image Comics series will run for 25 issues — “five arcs of five issues each.” [Multiversity Comics]

• Writing for MTV Geek, our own Brigid Alverson rounds up news from Viz Media at the show, including word that they’ve picked up the former Tokyopop title Loveless. [MTV Geek]

• Ross Campbell reports that Oni Press will release the upcoming sixth volume of Wet Moon in October 2012. “I was pretty devastated to hear that but I guess I’ve accepted it, what can you do,” he said on his blog. “The main reason is Oni’s post-production and scheduling processes have changed and been streamlined over the past year or so, in addition to their schedule being overbooked.” Campbell said he hopes to runa chunk fo the book on the web before it is released. [Ross Campbell]

• Gary Tyrell caught up with several webcomics creators about their various projects at the show. [Fleen]

• Michael Kupperman promoted the release of Mark Twain’s Autobiography 1910-2010 by cosplaying as Twain at the show. [Flog!]

• Gamers Digital (warning: annoying music at the link) is developing a “first-person mystery” game starring Dark Horse’s Ghost character. It’ll be downloadable for the PC, Macintosh and various Apple devices. [Kotaku]

• Galactus will be a playable character in a special mode in the upcoming video game Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. [CBR]

• ComicsAlliance rounds up pictures of a lot of great action figures that were displayed at the show, from Marvel, DC, Earthworm Jim and more. [ComicsAlliance]

Legal

Legal | Prosecutors in Macomb County, Michigan, rested their case Friday in the second trial of Michael George, a former retailer and convention organizer accused of the 1990 murder of his first wife Barbara in the back room of their Clinton Township comic store. The judge this morning will hear a defense motion for a directed verdict, seeking dismissal due to lack of evidence, before testimony resumes.

George, now 51, was arrested in August 2007, after a detective reopened the cold case, and convicted seven months later of first-degree murder and insurance fraud, among other counts, and sentenced to life in prison. However, the judge later set aside the verdict, citing prosecutorial misconduct — George’s mug shot was shown to the jury — and the release of new evidence that could lead the jury to believe another person was responsible for the murder. His retrial began Sept. 14, and should conclude this week. Prosecutors contend that George staged the killing to look like a robbery so he could collect money from an insurance policy and a shared estate, and start over with another woman. George insists he was asleep at the time of the shooting, and that his wife was the victim of a robbery gone wrong. [Daily Tribune]

Publishing | Chip Mosher, marketing and sales director for BOOM! Studios, left the publisher on Friday after four years. Marketing coordinator Emily McGuiness will take over his duties. [BOOM! Studios]

Publishing | Papercutz has acquired the license for the Three Stooges, allowing the company to reprint classic comics and adapt the 2012 Farrelly brothers movie. [ICv2.com]

Three #2

Awards | Prism Comics awarded its 2011 Queer Press Grant to veteran cartoonist and publisher Robert Kirby for his anthology Three. “I’m slightly overwhelmed, humbly grateful and excited, and full of renewed energy for proceeding with Three — which is now more than ever my magic number,” Kirby wrote on his blog. [Prism Comics]

Awards | Katie Longua has won the 2011 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics, presented over the weekend by San Francisco’s Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge. Previous winners include Joshua M. Cotter, Danica Novgorodoff, Will Dinski, Max Riffner and Daniel Merlin Goodbrey. [Twitter]

Awards | The entries have been posted for the 2011 SPACE Prize, which will be presented April 21, 2012, at SPACE 2012 in Columbus, Ohio. [SPACE Prize]

Publishing | Geek Out looks at recent moves at Archie Comics, primarily the introduction of gay character Kevin Keller. [CNN.com]

Emma #1

Publishing | Geek Out also stumbles across comic-book adaptations of classic, and contemporary, novels, and seeks out artists Janet Lee and R. Sikoryak, and writer Nancy Butler. [CNN.com]

Creators | The New York Times spotlights the Sunday routine of Joe Quesada: “I am pretty much working all the time. I don’t have a set schedule, per se — it’s just a matter of what comes across my e-mail first. I’ll be reading an animation script, working on an animatic for one of our shows, or drawing covers for our books. I have an iPad that’s set to ping whenever I get an e-mail from work. On weekends, there’s very little pinging, so it’s a good time to sit and draw. I listen to music when I draw — a majority of it is the Beatles.” [The New York Times]

Creators | Dave Gibbons discusses the state of the comics industry, digital comics, and the long shadow of Watchmen. [The Huffington Post UK]

Grant Morrison

Creators | A profile of Grant Morrison is pegged to his Action Comics relaunch and an announced adaptation of his forthcoming graphic novel Dominion: Dinosaur vs. Aliens. [Daily Record]

Creators | J.H. Williams III is profiled by his local newspaper, which focuses, of course, on the newly launched Batwoman. [Merced Sun-Star]

Creators | Mike Carey talks about creating the story for the X-Men: Destiny video game, and touches upon his tenure on Vertigo’s Hellblazer. [God Is a Geek]

Comics | Darryl Ayo explains Frank Miller’s Holy Terror this way: It’s cartooning, using the full power of the medium and eschewing an “adult” subtlety: “What makes Frank Miller special isn’t that he’s a great writer (he’s not) or that he’s an expert draftsman (he is, though) … what makes Miller special is that he can make things look heavy and light at the same time. That he can have ‘Batman’ vault through the great expanse of the hazy, scratchy page and land roughly, awkwardly and gracefully at the same time.” [Comix Cube]

Craft | Kevin Czap admires the way that both James Kochalka and Ron Rege Jr. compose their comics with the whole page in mind, ensuring that all the elements are perfectly balanced. [Comix Cube]

Rocksteady and Warner Bros. have released a new trailer for the upcoming Batman: Arkham City video game, one that features the villain Mr. Freeze. The game is due Oct. 18 in North America and Oct. 21 in Europe.

Spider-Man: Edge of Time

In advance of their big panel on Saturday at Comic-Con International, video game company Activision has announced several of the voice actors who will bring their two big fall Marvel releases to life.

According to the press release from Activision, Iceman will appear in Spider-Man: Edge of Time — not the amazing friend of the same name, but Val Kilmer of Top Gun, Batman Forever and Heat fame. Kilmer will voice a character named Walker Sloan. In addition, Battlestar Galactica alumni Katee Sackhoff will voice the Black Cat, while Smallville‘s Supergirl, Laura Vandervoort, will voice Mary Jane. They join Josh Keaton as the voice of Spider-Man and Christopher Daniel Barnes as Spider-Man 2099.

Former Heroes star Milo Ventimiglia, The Real World, Sucker Punch and The Hangover Part II‘s Jamie Chung and Friday Night Lights star Scott Porter will voice three playable mutant characters — Grant Alexander, Aimi Yoshida and Adrian Luca — in X-Men Destiny.

“These amazing casts of talented Hollywood actors help bring the rich storylines of Spider-Man: Edge of Time and X-Men Destiny to life,” said Vicharin Vadakan, director of marketing, Activision Publishing. “Players this fall will get to control the destiny of their own mutants or save Spider-Man and through this voice talent feel like they are part of the action.”

Comic-Con attendees can see the stars from Spider-Man: Edge of Time and X-Men Destiny at the Activision Marvel Video Games Panel where they will join legendary comic creator Stan Lee, Marvel writer Peter David and Beenox Studio Head Dee Brown, among others, to discuss the latest Super Hero adventures and their roles in the upcoming video games. The panel will take place on Saturday, July 23, at 10:00 a.m. in room 5AB. Show-goers who visit the Activision booth (#5445) will be among the first to get their hands on both games.

Hello and welcome to Shelf Porn. Today’s submission comes from Neal Bishop from North Carolina, who shares his collection of toys, comics and more.

If you’d like to see your shelves featured here, just drop me an email at jkparkin@yahoo.com.

And now here’s Neal …

*****

Hi, my name is Neal Bishop. I’ve been collecting comics since 1991, and toys since around 1998. The thing that really got me into toys was Marvel Legends; as you can see, that’s my primary collection. This is a bit of a bittersweet thing; I’ve been meaning to put my comic room on Shelf Porn for a while, and I took the pictures a few months ago; since then, I got a new job, and moved from Atlanta, GA to Charlotte, NC. So the room as it’s pictured doesn’t even exist any more. Still, I wanted to share my collection, as it was best displayed.

I have a ton of pictures that I took of the room, close ups of just about everything, if you’re interested, you can see them here:

http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn62/gl3600/Comic%20Book%20Room/

First of all, I’ve noticed a lot of people on here either have a huge trade and hardcover collection, or just say their collection is stuffed away in a closet somewhere. I’m a bagger and boarder, always have been, and I’m lucky enough to have the room to display my collection out in the room. I love putting my new comics in their place in the collection. You’ll also see some posters, signed by artists I’ve met at various cons.

Moving on to the shelves, you see the Marvel Legends and DC Universe Classics. I love the 6” scale; it’s by far my favorite.

One of my favorite things has to be my Captain America and the Avengers arcade game. I played this every time I went to the arcade when I was younger, and I searched ebay for years looking for a reasonably priced machine. I finally found it about two years ago, and I think it really brings that extra bit into the room.

More drawer boxes, with odds and ends, my Mighty Muggs collection, and some DC packaged figures.

I’m primarily a Marvel guy in my collecting, X-Men in particular, but I’m also a Green Lantern fan. I’ve built myself a little collection of various Green Lantern toys.

I do have a few trades & hardcovers in addition to the regular issues; I also have a weakness for the kid’s toys, the Spider-Man and Friends and DC Superfriends. They’re just too adorable!

The last bit of my collection is the smaller figures, particularly Superhero Squad and Minimates. I love the way they capture the essence of the characters in the small and cutesy versions.

And sadly, as I was saying earlier, I did have a move recently. Right now, this is how my collection looks, in a 4×14 storage unit……

But I’m sure the next place, it’ll be back, bigger than ever.

If you’re planning to buy the upcoming Marvel video games Spider-Man: Edge of Time or X-Men: Destiny, you may want to consider pre-ordering them from GameStop if you have an affinity for the Slingers or Havok.

The in-game Havok suit, according to Marvel.com, will allow X-Men: Destiny players to not only dress up their mutant in Alex Summers’ suit, but also allow them to “equip the exclusive Havok X-gene to their mutant of choice, granting them plasma-based power enhancements to their attacks, the ability to stun enemies through energy absorption and increase their damage output over time!”

And in Spider-Man: Edge of Time, the GameStop bonus gives you access to four different costumes for Spider-Man — those used by Peter Parker during the “Identity Crisis” storyline circa the late 1990s. Since Spider-Man was wanted for murder, Parker started using four other secret identities that he abandoned after clearing his name — Hornet, Prodigy, Ricochet and Dusk. The costumes were eventually claimed by four young heroes who took up crime fighting.

Per Marvel.com, players “will be able to take full advantage of the four exclusive suits from this storyline–Dusk, Prodigy, Ricochet and Hornet–which will give our web-slinger increases in health, damage, health regeneration or shield regeneration.”

Check out closer looks at all the suits after the jump.

*****

Prodigy

Hornet

Dusk

Ricochet

Havok suit

Two-Face from "Batman: Arkham City"

London’s Metro has unveiled a new render of Two-Face from Batman: Arkham City, the eagerly anticipated sequel to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s bestselling 2009 video game Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Developed by Rocksteady Studios, Arkham City is set inside the newly constructed fortified walls that have transformed part of Gotham’s slums into a sprawling maximum-security prison for the city’s gangsters, thugs and criminally insane. As earlier screenshots suggest, and Metro confirms, the disfigured Harvey Dent holds Catwoman hostage in Arkham City, and is prepared to execute her — something that players, as Batman, must stop.

Arkham City will be released Oct. 18 in North America and Oct. 21 in Europe.

"Batman: Arkham City" Riddler trailer

MSN has debuted a new trailer for Batman: Arkham City that spotlights the Riddler and his role in the hotly anticipated sequel to the bestselling 2009 video game Arkham Asylum. Developer Rocksteady Studios is inviting fans to comb the video for riddles and post them on the game’s official message board by Thursday.

Produced by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment, Arkham City is set inside the newly constructed fortified walls that have transformed part of Gotham’s slums into a sprawling maximum-security prison for the city’s gangsters, thugs and criminally insane.

Check out the trailer after the break. Arkham City will be released Oct. 18 in North America and Oct. 21 in Europe.