Let's get the familiar names out of the way first, shall we? Marvel have the first issue of Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars, which places Planetary and Transmetropolitan writer Warren Ellis in charge of Iron Man again, freed of too many continuity woes and watches what happens. Also out of continuity, Spider-Man Noir reimagines Peter Parker in 1920s New York, while the in-continuity (and non-Sam Jackson-esque) Nick Fury realizes the futility of existence in Secret Warriors Volume 1: Nick Fury, Agent of Nothing. Less existential pondering and more ass-kicking can be found in Hulk: Planet Skaar and Hercules: Prince of Power, both of which explain the finer points of "smashing," I believe.

Smashing may help the political state of the Romulan empire, which is somewhat shaky in IDW's Star Trek Romulans: Schism, while Dynamite add their voice to the licensed choir with what may turn out to be the surprise of the week: The first issue of Galactica 1980, resurrecting (and promising to improve) Lorne Greene's far-from-finest hour as the original Battlestar Galactica finds Earth in the middle of disco.

DC Comics have a couple of interesting collections to consider this week: Showcase Presents Warlord Vol. 1 reprints the beginnings of DC's premiere sword and sorcery comic - with some great art by Mike Grell - while Tom Strong Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 does the same for the first year of Alan Moore's retro "science hero" series which lurches from semi-parody to sincere tribute to stories gone by, with amazing art by people like Chris Sprouse, Art Adams and Dave Gibbons.

If you're looking for more Gibbons, this is definitely your week; he pops up (again working with his Watchmen collaborator Moore) alongside many other creators in the enjoyable The Spirit Archives: The New Adventures hardcover collection of a short-lived 1990s attempt to revive Will Eisner's classic character, but the motherlode for Gibbons fans - or Frank Miller fans, for that matter - is the deluxe collection The Life and Times of Martha Washington In the 21st Century, which brings together all of Miller and Gibbons' alternate future political satire, from Give Me Liberty all the way to last year's The Death of Martha Washington. Individual, powerful and weirdly compelling, it'd be the book of the week, if it wasn't for two other Dark Horse releases.
Those would be Beasts of Burden, a new series by Space Ghost (and Milk & Cheese) writer Evan Dorkin and artist Jill Thompson about the pet protectors of a particularly supernatural neighborhood (Look here for a sample of what to expect and fall in love), and Super Spy creator Matt Kindt's new graphic novel, 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man, which takes a serious and beautiful look at the old cliche of the man who was as tall as a building. Both are highly recommended.

Whether you're looking to buy all of Dark Horse's impressive slate this week or something else, the Diamond Shipping List can help you decide what you should be spending money on, and the Comic Shop Locator Service will make sure you know where to spend it. Just remember to pick up something new and unusual this week; it's a good week to go outside your norm.

Sadly, it's not a movie poster. It's the personal creation of visual artist Yanick Dusseault, who provided concept art on GATTACA, 3D work on Titan AE, and painted matte paintings on everything from Star Wars to The Island. Somehow, he also manages to find time to work on an impressive array of his own personal artwork (like this piece), which can be seen at his website.

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• There's a lot of improv between Tony and the fire-safety robot who keeps dousing him with foam. He has a somewhat more stable flight around his garage (although he nearly cooks his cars). Then with a little fast forward action we see him in the full-fledged Mark II suit, testing the systems. Jarvis (now an A.I. robot instead of a proper English butler, although he retains the prim English accent). Tony decides to take an early flight around the city with his first test flight, and we want one of those suits. Flaps extend, thrusters fire, and it's pretty swanky.
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• Someone asked him what his inspiration to make the movie was, and he said "I was inspired by the box office returns on Zathura." Hey, dammit. I liked that movie!
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• When asked about the rumors on the internet about a scene with Nick Fury as Samuel L. Jackson appearing in both this movie and The Incredible Hulk, Jon said "Yes, it's true. There are rumors on the internet." He said the rumors are partially true, but not which part.
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• Stan Winston Studios designed the physical Iron Man suit, but ILM provided a CGI version of the suit. Sometimes the two are married together, but they use the physical suit whenever possible.
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• He talked about the flying scenes in-depth, and used Stealth as an example of how bad flying scenes can be. They tried to emulate the look of the flying scenes in both Top Gun and Battlestar Galactica that have more of a documentary feel.
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• If Iron Man does well, Favreau may be directing the Avengers movie.
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• There will be a new 90-second trailer shown during Lost this week. He showed us a 2 1/2 minute version of the trailer that will be in front of 10,000 B.C., and it has a lot of new stuff in it. New shots of Obadiah Stane, a brief glimpse of the Iron Monger, Tony's first test flight, Pepper catching him changing into his Iron Man suit, to which his says "Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."
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• He hadn't wanted to reveal that Iron Monger would be in the movie, but Hasbro released images of the toy, so they included some very brief shots of him in the new trailer.
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• They haven't yet figured out how Iron Man will sound when he's wearing the suit. Jon was literally leaving WonderCon to spend a few weeks at Skywalker Ranch to work on the sound mix, and to try and work out what Tony's broadcast voice will be.
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• There was a concerted effort to have a teenaged Tony Stark play Iron Man, much like Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man. Thank god that didn't happen.
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• He's stayed in touch with Doug Liman, who directed Favreau's Swingers script in 1996, although he hasn't gotten any action film directing tips from him.
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• We asked Jon about the sexy shot of Tony Stark with two scantily clad women that recently surfaced, and how hard would they be pushing the envelope of sexiness: "Well, this is rated PG-13, so not too hard, as a matter of fact that shot is not in the movie right now. It was mostly for time, but we'll include that scene on the DVD. I've made a movie that I would feel comfortable bringing my kids to. It's not a hard PG-13, but it's intense. I wouldn't say that there were any compromises made, but it definitely was informed by what the personality of the film should be."
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Iron Man armors image courtesy of ScreenRant.

Annalee: "So, if you had to get out of that Stormtrooper outfit really, really fast what would you start with?"
Stormtrooper: "My helmet!"
Annalee: "Okay, then... what next?"
Stormtrooper: "Uh... my chestpiece!"
Annalee: "Okay, but what if you had to go to the bathroom? Is there any way to get out of there?"
Stormtrooper: "No!"

We left him to his Nerds and heard him whimpering for mommy. Did the Stormtroopers use catheters or something?

Production stills from Slashfilm.

Bungie writing director Joseph Stattten oversees all of the writing that goes on for the games that the studio pumps out, and he has a deep knowledge of the storylines as a result. When he was asked if fans would want to see the always armored Master Chief's face in the oft-delayed Halo feature film, he said

I think what it boiled down to with the film was really a question of "Who is the main character of the movie?" Is it the Master Chief or is it somebody else? And over time I think everybody around the table agreed that the Master Chief is best left as the most important supporting cast member.

Where the Master Chief doesn't have a face, but he has a whole body to emote with, whether it's his spine, or his shoulders. or the tilt of his head, or the way he slumps or reloads his weapon. There are these kinesthetic responses that he'll have which will really easily communicate the character and what he's feeling.

Interview with Bungie's Joseph Staten [Newsweek]

David Guivant is an aspiring production artist by day, and a fan filmaholic by night. What's more impressive is that he made this trailer for a fictional Iron Man television series using Apple's iMovie software and Adobe Photoshop for the 2D special effects that look like they were rendered in 3D. It's been a two year labor of love for the resident of New Caledonia (a tiny island between New Zealand and Australia) which really showcases the power of doing it yourself.

Now, if these characters only had some actual lines... we'd think he might be onto something.

If you slide eyes right, you'll see not one, or two, but three mentions of Marvel. First, you've got an embedded "Marvel authentic wallpaper" logo, which just sort of boggles the mind. Do you need a big note telling you that yes, this is indeed wallpaper? In case you didn't get the point, you've got the trademark and copyright by Marvel in 2007 note, and then the official Marvel logo right below that. So apparently Marvel is releasing an Iron Man movie this May, just an FYI.

Beyond that, the wallpapervertisements of the Mark III armor look great, but what's with those lame-o Mark I shots? Seriously, they look like shaky-cam shots that didn't make the advertising cut.

Iron Man movie wallpapers [Comic Book Movie]