io9: First off, you directed an animation sequence for the Kick-Ass movie. What's it about?

It's an origin sequence halfway through the film. Nicolas Cage's character, Big Daddy, documents his conquests as a vigilante in a shrine by drawing his victims and putting them up on a wall– The Wall of Villains – that he has in his secret room.

His ex-police partner, Marcus, discovers Big Daddy's secret room and sees what he's done to document his frustrating history; it's basically a comic book. He's a cartoonist and he draws his origin. His origin pretty much explains the whole film, in that Nicolas Cage's character has been set up and he's been driven out of his mind by what happened. Marcus comes in and picks up this little brief history in the comic book, and it morphs from the page in the comic book into a one-minute-or-so animated sequence. It then morphs back into the comic book when Big Daddy walks in on Marcus.

How was directing an animated sequence different than straight-up comic book illustration?

That's the interesting thing. Director Matthew Vaughn wanted it to be a comic book sequence. He was specific in saying, "Stick to what you do. We'll have it as a homage to the comic book." So I basically drew a comic book sequence and the computer-generating people at Double Negative Visual Effects turned it into a 3-D animated sequence.

In Kick-Ass, real people act as vigilantes. Given that you were illustrating real people and not say, Thor, did you find that your style changed?

When I was working with Mark Millar, we both handled it as a graphic novel. We handled it differently than a normal comic in that it was an illustrated novel and we knew that it was a special story, but I wasn't intending to make it look more realistic than normal. We stuck to what we were good at.

Speaking of Mark, I know that you've worked with him on a number of projects, such as Wolverine: Enemy of the State. You are one of the few artists who can make Logan's flamboyant yellow jumpsuit look dangerous.

(laughs) Thank you very much!

What's it like working with Mark Millar? Any antics?

He's one of the funniest guys you'll ever meet, and the two of us get along because we're both wise-asses, just from different countries. No, he just sends me the script, and I do what I do. Working with him is an absolute pleasure. He absolutely cracks me up when I can understand his heavy Scottish dialect, I crack him up when he can understand my heavy Brooklyn dialect. We get along famously.

Kick-Ass is a unique title in that it's about real people taking up a superhero mantle. Are you worried that there will be any sort of reverberation in the real world with folks assuming superhero identities?

Right after Kick-Ass began, we were privy to a couple of sites and emails that people were dressing in costume. The longer the series went along and the closer the film came to coming out, we found out that there were neighborhood patrols in which people would pick up outfits and dress up. The timeline, we're not sure about, some of them were claiming they were dressing up long before the series came out.

Interestingly enough, just a couple days ago at the New York screening of Kick-Ass, there was a martial arts expert who does those kinds of neighborhood patrols in the Midwest. He was the nicest guy in the world, but just into neighborhood patrols. I've seen the internet chatter about this, and I love it frankly. I remember neighborhood patrols when I was a kid. If they start to wear costumes, so be it. Maybe they'll scare a couple of boneheads away. The more this happens and the more tension it gets, who knows? Maybe we'll find costumed heroes, but of course, military, cops, and firefighters – those are the superheroes.

Any sort of tidbits you can offer us on the Kick-Ass 2 comic?

I can only give you the name of the arc, "Balls to the Wall." And Mark gave the villain's name away at the screening – it's The Motherfucker. Mark's sworn me to secrecy.

Your illustrations inspired the Black Panther series that's slated to air on BET. I know that it recently aired in Australia. Will we see it stateside?

It aired in Australia?

Yeah, you can see the opening sequence online – folks are claiming it aired on Australia's ABC3, but there's not a lot of info on the show's US air date.

There was some contention as to whether or not it would released in the US – something about BET and Marvel or BET and Reginald Hudlin. I'm not sure where it was the last time I spoke to Reggie. But hey, Australia! That's outstanding.

You and Brian Michael Bendis are helming the new post-Dark Reign Avengers series. Any spoilers you can pass on?

I'm just about to finish the first issue as we speak. I'm afraid to give away anything here because the plot's connected to so many different things – there's such a strange amount of subplots – including the villain, as it might affect other stories.

Finally, any other projects besides Avengers in the pipeline?

I have a creator-owned project with Howard Chaykin that's the product of my own twisted mind. I'll be working on that soon – it's called Shmuggy and Bimbo. Howard's writing and it's about two hitmen from the 1940s who grew up with my parents in real life in Brooklyn. They've long since passed but we've placed them into 1970s New York City. It's a convoluted political intrigue plot with a little bit of fantasy involved. Yes, there were two legitimate human beings in this world named Shmuggy and Bimbo, and they looked like their names.

Kick-Ass is published by Marvel in the US and Titan Books in the United Kingdom.

Whether it's DC Comics relaunching the Legion of Super-Heroes with a reprint of their first adventure in Adventure Comics #0, or launching a brand new superhero series with The Mighty #1, it's as if everyone is making an effort in this last new release day before this weekend's New York Comic Con.

Devil's Due's first issue of French WW2 supernatural thriller I Am Legion, Dynamite's debut of equally-supernatural western Dead Irons, IDW's collection of Mirror Universe stories in Star Trek: Mirror Images and Image's domestic superhero Jersey Gods all make their debuts this week, and Boom! have their very enjoyable Eureka spin-off appearing for the first time, as well (we have a preview of that later today, for those yet to be convinced about how it'll work as a comic).

However, it's definitely Marvel Comics who're going all out this week. In addition to the first issues of new anthology title Astonishing Tales, rebooted African royalty superhero series Black Panther, undercover hero series Secret Warriors and (our favorite) superhero spy (well, kind of) book Agents of Atlas — along with a new hardcover collection for the rightly-lauded Captain America: Truth series — the House of Ideas has the debut of Marvel: Your Universe, a new anthology series collecting recent issues of hit series for the surprisingly low price of $5.99. Can it get any better?

Well, yes, actually, it can. Because, even if you ignore all of the above books — although they're all very enjoyable and worth picking up — there is one book hitting stores tomorrow that you should beg, borrow or steal enough money to buy. Yes, tomorrow sees the release of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim Versus The Universe, the fifth in the series of his slacker/romance/magic realist/video game/all things awesome stories, and — even though it's only February — it's a fair bet to say that this may be the book of 2009. You know you want it.

There's no way around it; this week's shipping list is going to be a tempting one, and it'll just lead you to find your nearest comic store via the Comic Shop Locator, before eventually leading you to financial ruin. But, with comics like these? It'll almost be worth it.

Commenting that "[i]t's a blessing for African Americans and minorities to have a superhero they can identify with," Hounsou will lend his voice to the superhero, who first appeared as a supporting character for Marvel's Fantastic Four in the mid-60s, as he makes his prime-time debut in next year's BET series, written and produced by former BET President Reginald Hudlin. Marvel Animation President Eric Rollman is clearly happy about the get:

The Black Panther" is Marvel's entrée into prime-time animation, and Djimon raises the bar for all involved as we bring the best in the animation business together to execute that vision.

Of course, despite the show being adapted from the comic book, by the time the animated series makes its debut, it'll bear little resemblance to its source: Marvel are relaunching the Black Panther comic book with an all-new female Panther replacing the character who's held the title for the last 22 years.

Hounsou to voice 'Black Panther' [Variety]

For those unfamiliar with the Black Panther, the character was the first black superhero in mainstream American comics, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby during their historic Fantastic Four run. The king of a fictitious African country of Wakanda, a technologically-advanced nation hidden from Western civilization, T'Challa came to America to save his homeland from American Imperialists, fight crime and teach inner-city kids to read. During his 42-year history, he's belonged to the Avengers, led the Fantastic Four and married the X-Men's Storm, as well as proven himself to be one of the smartest characters in Marvel's universe and just generally bad-ass.

The new television show - to be adapted from the first six issues of Marvel's current Black Panther series, coincidentally (or not, as the case may be) written by BET's President of Entertainment, Reginald Hudlin - is still in production for a planned early 2009 airdate, but a specially-produced preview will be shown at the con during BET's Saturday panel, much to the delight of fanboys in attendance.

The Black Panther Sneak Peek at Comic-Con [SuperHero Hype]

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.