Let's get the non-Marvel books out the way first, because there are less of them. Dark Horse releases an ideal stocking stuffer in the shape of Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Slaves Of The Republic, in which Anakin and Ahsoka try to free her people from tyranny.

Meanwhile, Image Comics matches them in crossmedia properties, with One Model Nation, a new graphic novel written by Courtney Taylor from the Dandy Warhols (with art by Street Angel's Jim Rugg) about an alternate history Germany's music-led revolution in 1977. Of course, if you like historical stories, the collection of time-traveling-tales in Doctor Who: Through Time and Space from IDW may be just the right antidote for your winter blues.

Superherowise, the dead are continuing to rise at DC, with two series spinning out of Blackest Night: Blackest Night: The Flash and Blackest Night: Wonder Woman both launch this week, accompanied by the entirely un-undead JSA All-Stars series showcasing the younger members of DC's second team. But that truly pales beside the onslaught of superhero launches from Marvel this week. Brace yourself.

If it's not the alternate earth thrills of What If? Secret Invasion (That's not even a sentence, never mind a question), it's the continuity-heavy Dark Avengers Annual, Siege: The Cabal (A prelude to next month's Siege event that'll get the original Avengers back together in time for that whole movie thing) or Fall Of The Hulks: Alpha.

Retrofun can be found in Uncanny X-Men First Class: Hated and Feared. And while Tony Stark is in bad ways in the regular Iron Man book, we get a look back at his origins in Iron Man: Requiem. It's actually a pretty good week for Iron Man fans; there's also the first issue of Iron Man Vs. Whiplash, which ties in with next year's movie, as does the first issue of Black Widow and the Marvel Girls. Why, after all of that, you'll need the non-superhero Dark Tower: Battle of Jericho Hill to cleanse your palette.

Even if you're not looking for a hint of what to expect from summer blockbusters, you'll find something worth reading on this week's shipping list from Diamond Distributors, or by leafing through the selection at your local comic store. And remember: Comics don't care if you're naughty or nice.

Johansson is auctioning off the chance for you and a friend to attend next May's LA premiere for Iron Man 2, meet Johansson herself and also "receive a free glam session" at upscale LA salon Christophe, with proceeds from the auction going to Oxfam America. The actress, herself an Oxfam Ambassador, explained in a statement,

I'm so thrilled to be a part of this eBay charity opportunity, again raising funds for Oxfam. Oxfam is an incredibly worthy organization that I'm most passionate about.

While that doesn't sound like something a sexy Russian superspy would say, we're holding out hope that she's just working undercover. The auction runs until September 24th.

Meet Scarlett Johansson at the premiere of Iron Man 2 [eBay]

Talking to Comic Book Resources, Feige admitted that Samuel L. Jackson's nine movie deal with Marvel is indeed a clue as to how the Avengers are going to get toegther:

At the end of the first [Iron Man], for the people who were patient enough to wait through the end credits, they met this guy named Nick Fury. They or Tony had no idea who he was. In this movie, he opens that door a little bit more for Tony and invites him to walk through it. Tony may or may not do that in this movie. But Nick Fury is the conduit through which all the characters will connect.

When asked whether the Hulk would feature in the Avengers movie, Feige replied,

I think so. In the comics, he has.

Another character we can expect to see in Avengers is Scarlett Johannsen's Black Widow; Feige was asked whether fans could expect to see her in that movie or her own spin-off, and he said,

She's signed on for all of those should we be lucky enough to have an audience that wants to see them.

So now we know at least six characters who'll be appearing in the movie: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Nick Fury and Black Widow. Given that Iron Man 2 is also introducing well-known Avengers character Hawkeye, it's a fair bet to assume he'll be a seventh... and we have a line-up that should be very familiar not only to fans of Marvel's early Avengers comics, but also Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates rebooted version. With Avengers screenwriter Zak Penn having previously said that Ultimates was a big influence on how he approaches this material, is it too early to assume that the first Avengers movie will be an adaptation of that particular series?

Kevin Feige on Marvel Studios Slate [Comic Book Resources]

From DC, there are two not-really-io9-but-still-worth-looking-into books in the new "Vertigo Crime" imprint: Brian Azzarello's Filthy Rich and novelist Ian Rankin's John Constantine story Dark Entries, although the latter isn't really a crime book per se.

But leaving those aside, DC's big releases of the week include Blackest Night: Superman, in which the Man of Steel has to come to terms with his daddy issues because, hey, his dad has risen from the dead (but which dad? That's why you have to buy it, people). And the first issue of the new Batgirl series, which will hopefully answer the question of who's taken on that name these days once and for all.

A week of new starts, then, but Marvel are taking the opposite tack with some great collections of old material. Okay, Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes isn't really old - it's the start of Warren Ellis' run on the series. But for classic stuff, you can't really go wrong with Kurt Busiek's time-bending Avengers Forever. Or the Spider-Man/Mary Jane: You Just Hit The Jackpot collection, which brings together lots of stories of the comics couple that only Joe Quesada and a Satan analogue could tear apart. Less well-known but not less interesting, Black Widow: Sting Of The Widow offers a hardcover introduction to Scarlett Johannson's femme fatale before next year's Iron Man 2 hits theaters, collecting some of the character's earliest appearances.

Elsewhere, the idea of the Bad Girl gets two different hardcover takes. Image's exploitathon Bomb Queen gets her very own Omnibust (Get it? Because she has tits! Ah, subtlety...) And Boom!'s enjoyable Buffy with an attitude series Hexed gets a deluxe collection that's well worth picking up.

If you're looking for some movie action, IDW releases the first issue of its Astro Boy Movie Adaptation, while Dynamite brings Bruce and Barack together in the opener to Army of Darkness: Ash Saves Obama (Yes, really). Dynamite also has the first issue of Project Superpowers: Meet The Bad Guys, wherein Alex Ross' revamped Golden Age heroes meet their matches for the first time.

Most interesting book of the week has to be Days Missing, a new mini-series created by the production company owned by Gene Rodenberry's son, Rod. Pushing itself as being created "in the Roddenberry tradition of thoughtful, philosophical, and topical science fiction," the first issue boasts a good creative pedigree, with Phil Hester and Frazer Irving providing writing and art (Each issue will feature a different creative team), and a story about a mysterious figure who shows people their true potential... for a price. We'll have a review tomorrow, but it's definitely worth looking out for in the stores.

As always, you can find a list of all the books being released this week here, and then look for your local comic book store here. Just beware of mysterious figures offering to expose new sides to you that were unaware of; it never ends well.

The new series, announced in yesterday's LA Times, takes the character back in more ways than one. Not only does artist Tom Raney get to bring the character's look back to her classic 1970s look - unsurprisingly, the same one the character sports in Iron Man 2 - but Cornell also will be revisiting the Widow's past to remake her into something much closer than her namesake, as he told Comic Book Resources:

The plot connects back to all these different times in her life, as she tries to save everyone she ever kissed from something deadly. A real Black Widow's curse... She's not defined by the men in her past. They all, to some extent, are defined by her, and now possibly fatally. It's about the past coming after Natalia seeking revenge, and the present not being able to do a thing about it. So she's on her own. And that's fine, because she's never seen herself as being anything else.

Black Widow: Year One launches in November.

FIRST LOOK: 'Black Widow: Year One' [LA Times]

The curvy actress has signed on to play the dangerous Black Widow in the next Iron Man movie. Scarjo in a slinky skin-tight fighting suit, that's a beautiful thought. Scarjo, with a fake Russian accent....hmmmm, not so sure about that. Either way, I'll see it - for some reason, her eyes have some sort of weird spell over me.

And Mickey Rourke has finally come to an agreement with Marvel, and will be busting out the cybernetic whips to fight Tony in the sequel as Whiplash. Just the idea of seeing a nunchaku/whip wielding Rourke, buzzing around on a jet disc, fills my heart with joy.

Good decisions, team Iron Man, just make sure to give RDJ the most screen time, as my heart is still dedicated to him and his awesome witticisms.

[E News and Variety]

The facts are these, as Jim Dale used to say: First, we had Robert Downey Jr.'s cryptic comments that the heavy metal sequel will not be what we're expecting:

The enemy comes from within... It's very very much about, it's one thing to say you're Iron Man, it's another thing to understand that responsibility. And, if that sounds like a familiar theme, trust me, it's not.This film is three times more fun... and strange [than you'd expect]. Like, it used to be, my weird thing was "Can everyone siddown" at press conferences, and people were like "Boy, Robert's really doing some strange stuff." We're going real far out in this one.

And now we hear that the first prop to be built for the movie is a toilet. For Tony Stark to be sick in.

So, was Downey's comment about his former "strange stuff" a veiled addiction reference? Is this second movie going to be all about Tony turning to drink when he can't deal with life as a superhero and the CEO of Stark Industries? It's beginning to seem that way... although we'll be amused if it's all a swerve and the toilet vomiting comes as the result of some villainous plot from the Black Widow, whoever ends up playing her.

Dushku's announcement came on the Howard Stern show, where she was appearing to promote her new Fox show. She explained:

I'm so perfect for the Black Widow character, that they just need to get into it... They need to understand… I just learned Russian because I had to play a Russian girl in ‘Dollhouse.' Maybe we could all tell them. Lets get on a Black Widow Iron Man 2 campaign.

As much as I love Eliza, this seems a little too much like Sean Young's ill-fated public campaigns to be Catwoman in Tim Burton's Batman movies for my liking. Eliza, you've just launched a new TV show! Concentrate on that, not on trying to get a movie role that's already been cast!

This can only end in tears.

‘Iron Man 2' Casting Campaign: Eliza Dushku Wants To Be The Black Widow [MTV Splash Page]

The always-reliable "sources" are reporting that Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada and soon to be seen in The Wolfman) is the lead in the race to play Natasha Romanoff, the Russian spy know as the Black Widow in the sequel to last year's Robert Downey Jr. vehicle, although Marvel Studios aren't officially commenting on the rumor as yet.

With a possible castlist of Downey, Paltrow, Cheadle, Blunt, Rourke and Rockwell, it's getting easier and easier to not really care that much whether or not Sam Jackson's Nick Fury returns as Nick Fury.

Emily Blunt rumored for 'Iron Man 2' [Variety]

Latino Review is reporting that Tim Robbins will play Howard Stark, Tony's genius inventor father, in flashback scenes for the second Iron movie that will set up both the Captain America and Avengers movies (I know that they'll most likely be scenes where Stark invents Cap's Super Soldier formula, but I'd much rather see him say "I've got it! We can freeze him in ice at the end of the Cap film and then start Avengers with him being discovered!" just for the meta-value of it all).

Perhaps more unexpectedly, they're also claiming that former-villains-turned-Avengers Hawkeye and the Black Widow will have large roles to play in the sequel; if true, then we may have found our nemeses for Tony to deal with - and then rehabilitate in time for the Avengers movie, perhaps - this time around.

Exclusive Scoop: The Player May Join Stark Industries [Latino Review]

The Wasp
Why we want to see her in the movies: There’s no way that Janet Van Dyne shouldn’t be in any Avengers project; one of the founding members of the team in the original comics, she’s stuck around during their entire history, even leading the team on occasion. There’s more to this society-dame-cum-fashion-designer that just being a lame Ant-Man-wannabe, you know.

Wonder Man
Why we want to see him in the movies: Really, it’s just that outfit. Yeah, you could get some pathos out of the story of a man whose attempt to get superpowers placed him in a death-like coma for years, making his brother become his own arch-enemy through misplaced grief, but I just want to see a superhero movie star a guy in a bright red safari jacket. I admit it.

Hawkeye
Why we want to see him in the movies: Handsome, cocky, a bit of a ladies man and even more of an asshole, he’s Han Solo with a bow and arrow. As an added bonus, if they rush the movie into production, he could spoil similar DC hero Green Arrow’s movie debut in Supermax.

Black Widow
Why we want to see her in the movies: The former Russian spy turned superhero didn’t lose any of her alluring wiles when she turned to the (American) good side. Pistol-packing and mysterious, she could be the perfect femme fatale role for budding actresses who aren’t Scarlett Johanssen, Frank Miller.

Starfox
Why we want to see him in the movies: The ideal comedic foil for the movie, Starfox is part of a race of genetically-altered humans called The Eternals, and his superpower is to make women fall in love with him. Sure, there’s more to it than that (It’s all about affecting the chemical balance in the brain, making people happier and more susceptible to suggestion or something), but come on. Who doesn’t see Adam Sandler in a bad wig already?

Tigra
Why we want to see her in the movies: She’s a half-cat, half-woman who fights crime wearing a bikini. Put her in the movie and finally we can judge the size of the furry portion of the movie-going public.

Beast
Why we want to see him in the movies: The rights issue may be a problem, considering he showed up in X-Men: The Last Stand, but just as Dr. Henry McCoy jumped teams in the comic books to become a star in his own right, so should his celluloid version. It’s not like Kelsey Grammer has anything else to do these days, anyway.

Mantis
Why we want to see her in the movies: Of all of Marvel’s characters, Mantis may have the oddest character arc – From Vietnamese prostitute to cosmic goddess “The Celestial Madonna” who ends up marrying an alien possessing and reanimating the corpse of her dead lover. I’d just want to see them try to make that into a movie.

Black Panther
Why we want to see him in the movies: There is absolutely no reason not to have him in the movies. The Panther – who was briefly renamed “Black Leopard” when Marvel became aware of the Black Panther Party – is the scientific equal of Iron Man, the physical equal of Captain America, and man enough for the X-Men’s Storm to fall in love with him. Basically, he’s Marvel’s Batman. Never mind Avengers, he should have his own movie.

So there you have it – Nine potential replacements for whichever big-name actor doesn’t sign on for the ensemble Avengers movie when it goes into production next year. Take that as a warning, Ed Norton.

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.