According to Bendis, Peter isn't the only one who's been waiting a long time for this moment:

It took like a year to green light this issue, and I'm really happy about it. We're going to do a special Ultimate Spider-Man Annual that deals with the subject of Peter and MJ's burgeoning physical relationship... [I]t's a tough sell, because it's a touchy subject that has to be handled appropriately. But then I brought up that, I said, "You know, you've got another Ultimate book where the brother and sister are making out in front of Captain America! And I can't have a conversation about this?" I mean, come on. This is something that's real. This is something that happens.

The original reasoning behind the story came from Bendis' desire to take his enjoyable soap opera in a more realistic direction. Well, as realistic as you can get with a radioactive Spider-powered hero:

I think about my life when I was 15 or 16 a lot when I'm writing this book. And I had a girlfriend, and we were very, very close. And that was the question. Should we, or shouldn't we? And we also, because of where I was raised, we were all going to private Hebrew school, so there was a pretty hardcore sense of morality, but everybody was kind of fooling around anyway. So it was there. It is there... It seemed to me there's a point where if the book's set in real life, it's really about them being teenagers, and this should be addressed. It's part of life. You've seen Juno. And did you hear about these kids who might’ve had a pregnancy pact? I mean, it's part of life. Of course, I'm not going to do anything as insane as that. But it is part of the life we lead. So we're going to address it.

But how far will the addressing go? Obviously we're not going to see Peter and MJ have sex - that would have to be a Marvel MAX book - but will the two characters even end up in bed together, or will they decided against it after 40-odd pages of neurotic conversation? You'll find out when the Annual ships to stores in October.

Brian Bendis: Ultimate Spider-Man Annual and Changes [Newsarama]

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]

MTV's executive vice president of new media, David Gale, is ready to make the new animated venture sound like a breakthrough:

I like to think of it as cinematic comics — digital cinematic comics... I think it’s important that in this age you really give the freedom to the consumer. If all you do is put it on a Web site and ask for them to find it, it’s very challenging. I also think the evolution of download-to-own is becoming such an expected format for people to get content.

But just what is this cross-platform cartoon? The New York Times explains:

The process starts with digital scans of the actual comic book pages. They are turned into an audio-visual experience through a process called Bomb-xx developed by Gain. In the end, the formerly two-dimensional comic book suddenly pulses with music, while word balloons pop up and fill in as actors recite the dialogue and panels zoom in and out and pivot in all directions.

Yes, that's right; it's someone reading a Flash-animated comic to you. With music.

The worst thing is, this is pretty much exactly the same thing that Marvel Comics were doing in the late '60s with their Marvel Superheroes cartoons, except they had the common sense to get rid of the word balloons:

(They're still using the same technique now, for freebie trailers for books like World War Hulk.)
So, apparently MTV's new evolution of content is to rip off an idea that was already underwhelming forty years ago, but now you can watch on your cell phone. Go technology.

A Comic Book Superhero Is Headed to Small Screens [New York Times]

Let's start with the most fun book of the week: Harper Collins' Method Man graphic novel, written by and starring the Wu-Tang rapper as Mosely Paine, a Hellboy-esque monster hunter in a city known only as "One Bad Ghetto, USA." I smell potential movie deal...

Oddly enough, this isn't the first Wu-Tang comic - that would be 2002's The Nine Rings of Wu-Tang - nor will it be the last. GZA and Ghostface Killah are both working on their own graphic novels.

It's a big week for Devil's Due Publishing. They're releasing the first issue of a new Voltron series, Voltron: A Legend Forged as well as the alien abduction book NYE Incidents, which we've written about before. More mysterious alien lifeforms can be found in Boom! Studios' virus-from-beyond-the-stars Dominion trade paperback.

Wanting more zombie fiction? Then check out Red5 Comics' ZMD: Zombies Of Mass Destruction series, where the undead are used as the last resort in our ever-ongoing war against terrorism. As you may expect, things don't quite go to plan. If your taste for the undead leans more towards vampires, then IDW probably invite you to sample their new Spike: After The Fall series, showing you just what James Marsters' alter ego has been up to post-Angel season 5.

I know, I know; you're wondering what Marvel and DC are doing with themselves during this indie-heavy week. DC is playing it cool, with its flagships both being the work of Geoff Johns: His very enjoyable Superman And The Legion of Super-Heroes storyline gets a hardcover collection, bringing Clark Kent back to his 31st Century teenage hangout, while Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge sees him return to the world of the Flash and attempt to redeem the villains therein (much to the gratitude of those of us who've read Countdown to Final Crisis). Marvel, meanwhile, is pretty collection-centric in terms of interest, with World War Hulk's spin-off series, Warbound, getting a paperback collection and Steve Gerber's classic run on Howard The Duck finally getting the oversized hardcover it's always deserved.

Just like every other week, you can read about each and everything hitting comic stores on Wednesday right here, and then go and find out where your local store is by clicking on this here link. Just remember that, like the Wu Tang Clan, comic book stores are not, in fact, not something to fuck with.

Hulk Vs comes out on DVD in January 2009. Comic-Con goers will be treated to the first half of the Wolverine/Hulk fight at the Marvel panel. But more importantly, will this be the moment we get to see The Hulk rip smart-mouthed Wolverine in half comic book style? It's a cartoon, so maybe not. But we can dream can't we?

Iron Man Armored Adventures features teen Tony Stark in his Richie Rich years learning to appreciate humanity and working for a living fighting crime. How will he balance puberty and battling the evil Mandarin? Together with teen War Machine and little Pepper he fights evil across the globe. Here's hoping they address teen drinking super early in this series, so Tony can get an early start on his future demons.
The 26-episode series will premiere on Nicktoons in 2009.

[Marvel]

This image - comparing an unnamed actor to Marvel's sentinel of liberty and soon-to-be movie franchise - has been making the rounds online, along with a YouTube teaser for an unnamed project (which, let's face it, probably has the working title of "I really, really want to be Captain America"), normally accompanied by a sockpuppet message along the lines of "I don't know who this guy is, but he'd make a great Captain America!"

Of course, sometimes people don't fall for the hype; when the fans at the Captain America US messageboard accused "SuzyQ" of being a sockpuppet for the actor himself, "she" didn't take it too well:

excuse me? that is the most rude response i have ever gotten from a kid on a message board. you are obviously jealous of that man in the video because he looks like a god. i am attracted to him but he's not my brandon and that's why i'm worried for his part as superman. so i can see how a regular kid like you could get upset about being out of a real man's league.
how dare you call me a man or accuse me of being one, child.
you obviously have no respect for women and therefore have NO respect for yourself. i just wasted my time looking you up on imdb. let me just take the high road like the honorable woman i am and simply say you should probably search out other career paths besides acting.
and you best not tell a woman to "can it" again or you are likely to get slapped.
you sicken me and give this board and captain america a bad rep.
goodbye and i hope you get some help for your low self esteem. good luck and best wishes to you.

Well, I know that I'm convinced.

This isn't the first time someone has used this method to try and impress studios with their potential chops - In 2004, the fan film Grayson made the name and internet fame of John Fiorella temporarily as fans clamored for more, even getting a slot at that year's San Diego Comic-Con before Warner Bros. closed it down due to worries about copyright. This latest attempt may steer clearer of copyright worries, but is about as likely to actually succeed... which is to say, not very. Which is a shame, really; he looks the part, after all, and even though we have no idea about his acting chops, he'd definitely be a better choice than Leonardo DiCaprio.

Video On Mystery Captain America Man [Captain America US]

Ever wanted to go on a tour of the world that the Marvel superheroes fly around in? Thanks to Flickr member ChildOfAtom, that's easier than ever. He's gone to four of the real world addresses of some of the most famous addresses of the Marvel Universe and taken photos of what's actually there, and posted those photos online along with comparisons to their cartoon counterparts. Want to see what we have instead of the Baxter Building or Daily Bugle offices? Click under the jump.

Here's the real life Baxter Building, next to its comic equivalent:

And what can be found at the address of the Daily Bugle?:

Instead of the Avengers Mansion, the real world has this:

And, finally and most depressingly, this is what we get instead of Doctor Strange's Sanctorum:

Marvel themselves aren't immune to this kind of fanboy tourism; last year, they published The Marvel Comics Guide To New York City, a 256-page book that guides readers around the real life Big Apple that inspired the four-color version. Much cheaper, however, is Wizard Magazine's version from earlier this year:

ChildofAtom's Marvel New York City [Flickr]

I guess we should start with the only comic featuring the 70-year-old Man of Steel, huh? That would be Superman: Last Son, a hardcover collection of the much-delayed storyline that brought Richard Donner to comics - he co-writes the book alongside Geoff Johns - as well as returned General Zod and the Phantom Zone to current DC continuity. I could tell you more about the story, like the fact that Superman adopts a son, but I know that all you'll really care about is that there's a special 3-D section midway through the book. That Phantom Zone is trippy, man.

Elsewhere in the DC line this week, Superman's oldest rival Captain Marvel gets a new series, with the first issue of kid-targeted Billy Batson And The Magic of Shazam. Less friendly for little tykes, the Dark Knight tie-ins start properly with the first issue of The Joker's Asylum, which makes Heath Ledger's alter-ego into your host as he narrates stories about the other inmates over at Arkham Asylum. Or maybe you want even darker still, with Hellblazer: The Fear Machine collecting some of the earliest stories of magician, former punk and all-round bastard John Constantine from the 1980s, when it was cool to turn yuppies into demons.

More nostalgia comes in the form of the imported Doctor Who: The World Shapers, which brings together the little-seen mid-80s run of Grant Morrison on the British Who comic. On the one hand, yes, it's the Colin Baker Doctor, but on the other, rare Morrison... It's a tough one. Equally tough is Star Trek: Mirror Images, a new mini-series that explores one of the greatest Star Trek concepts ever, the Mirror Universe. IDW's Trek comics have been somewhat hit and miss, so the potential for disappointment here is, sadly, great. But it is the Mirror Universe. I mean, goateed Spock...what could go wrong?

If you're looking for things that will make you much less conflicted, I can heartily recommend the following three books: Boom!'s Station is a murder mystery set on the international space station right as things start to go wrong and it looks like everyone might end up dead. If you liked Greg Rucka's Whiteout, chances are you'll enjoy it. Mike Mignola gets slightly ahead of the movie curve this week with a new Hellboy series, The Crooked Man, illustrated by comics legend Richard Corben. So expect the same great writing and slightly off-putting stumpy figures (I kid because... well, because I can, really. But you'll know what I mean when you pick it up).

Pick of the week, however, is easily Buffy The Vampire Slayer #16, which sees Joss Whedon return as writer, as well as the return of his futuristic slayer, Fray. For everyone who hasn't read the Fray series and wonders why this is a big deal, all I have to say is this: Imagine Faith, but from the far future, and with an even worse attitude. I foresee carnage and futuristic cursing that you can get away with in comics, as well as quite a few battles over that weird scythe that both of them think they own.

As is the case every single week, you can see the complete list of everything hitting comic stores this week here, and find out where your local comic book store is by clicking here. Do it because Clark Kent would want you to.

Director Edgar Wright (Shaun Of The Dead) explained to Piq Magazine that the film will be yet another superhero origins story but different, "because you've seen so many of them and we really tried to figure out a fresh take on that story. So it's definitely a Marvel film but it's got a little twist on it in terms of the way that it plays out."

In the past, Wright has mentioned that the film combines two major characters. My guess is Lang and O'Grady because this way Marvel can feature both the Avengers (which Lang was a member of) and super-spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. (which O'Grady worked for). Besides who doesn't want to see the creepy guy use his powers for his own dirty little mind, while trying to be a good guy on the side? Plus if Wright goes with the O'Grady story line, maybe we'll get to see him cross wits with old-timey thief the Black Fox. [Piq Magazine via Cinematical]

Marvel Comics knows a good tease when it sees one, which might explain the latest, wordless image that they've released in support of a mystery project. All we know about this shadowy femme fatale is that she's somehow connected to the letter X and the number 2009, but if you come under the jump, you can see the whole picture, its earlier counterpart, and some baseless speculation as to what it could all mean.

The image - revealed at Marvel's "Mondo Marvel" panel at his weekend's Wizard World Chicago convention - is actually the second such teaser to be released by Marvel; the first, below, was released at the Wizard World Philadelphia convention earlier this year.

What do the images mean? Well, the letter X seems to suggest that it's got something to do with the X-Men... And, in fact, those bright red glasses make the character in the first image look not unlike X-Men leader Cyclops. But who is the second character with the green eyes?

Our bet is that it's Rogue (Look; her eyes are green); the seeming white strands at the front of her hair suggest that we're on the right track. But what's with the gun and the trenchcoat? And why is Cyclops also decked out in the coat and gun combo? And is that a cowboy hat he's wearing? Will we see Professor Xavier's children of the atom doing a little time-traveling at some point next year...?

Again With The 09 Marvel Teaser [Newsarama]

Sad news from the comic industry today with the announcement that artist Michael Turner died late Friday night from complications arising from his ongoing fight against cancer. Turner, who had worked for DC and Marvel Comics providing covers for books like Superman/Batman, Civil War and Uncanny X-Men as well as creating his own line of comics under his Aspen MLT label, had been diagnosed with chondrosarcoma in the year 2000 but had remained optimistic about his health throughout his extensive treatment. Aspen Comics have asked those wishing to make a charitable donation on Turner's name to donate to the American Cancer Society or to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Turner was 37 years old.

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.

According to Canadian retailer Chris Butcher, the number of this week's Marvel releases seem unusually high in comparison to DC's:

Retailers reading over their invoices for comics and graphic novels shipping [this]week will be shocked to discover that Marvel Comics is shipping about 34 titles next week, to only about 17 titles from DC Comics. It’s a rare thing for Marvel to ship that many titles in a week ([last] week, for example, they only shipped about 17 or so), but to double the output of their closest competitor? That’s very rare indeed… Until you stop to consider that one of DC’s titles shipping [this] week is the next installment in their summer crossover Final Crisis... In addition to numerous Marvel comics scheduled to arrive in the month of June that were seemingly pushed from their original on-sale date to this week (including both [Brian] Bendis [scripted] Avengers books, both X-Men books, [Ed] Brubaker’s Captain America & Daredevil, [Mark] Millar’s Fantastic Four & Marvel 1985, and [Warren] Ellis’ last Thunderbolts) this week also includes three of Marvel’s largest lateness-plagued titles: Hulk #4, Ultimates 3 #4, and even the final issue of Joss Whedon’s Runaways all drop next Wednesday. Plus another 20 comics.

Is it some kind of attempt for Marvel to bury the second issue of Final Crisis, or just the result of trying to get late books out at least in the month they were originally scheduled to appear? We may never know, but at least it'll mean that Marvel fans have a lot to pick up this week. For everyone else, there's always Final Crisis #2, as well as the following:

Dark Horse's Indiana Jones Adventures takes George Lucas' eponymous ode to archeology and pretends that it had a Saturday morning cartoon spin-off that they're then adapting; imagine a version done by Batman: The Animated Series' Bruce Timm or Clone Wars' Genndy Tartakovsky, and you're not a million miles away from what they're aiming at. If you'd rather your childhood heroes were treated with fewer kid gloves, then you owe it to yourself to pick up the first hardcover collection of DC's All-Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder, in which Frank Miller cashes the checks as he gleefully creates the world's oddest Batman parody. "What are you, dense? Are you retarded or something?" as the saying goes... He's the goddamn Batman.

More respectful versions of familiar icons can be found at the apparently overbearing Marvel — Captain America: The Chosen sees Rambo creator David Morrell write about an alternate end to Steve Rogers' career, while Mythos: Captain America gives another look at his origin as America's favorite soldier. Alternatively, you could pick up the collected edition of Marvel Atlas and find out where all of Cap's origin takes place - Is Marvel's Germany in Europe, or has it been forced out by Latveria?

The two best buys of the week happen to be new books: Warren Ellis' new series No Hero brings superheroes to San Francisco to see which one survives, while Marvel's charity book What If - The Fantastic Four Tribute to Mike Weiringo completes the unfinished final story by artist Mike Weiringo - who died last August - with new art by artists like Art Adams, Alan Davis, Mike Allred and Stuart Immonen with all profits going to The Hero Foundation, which helps current and former creators without insurance or benefits.

As is always the case, you can find the complete list of everything hitting stores here and then find out where said stores are by going here and putting in your zip code. Just remember: Buying a non-Marvel comic this week isn't just a good idea - It's the right thing to do if you want to fight back against big publisher bully tactics. Potentially.

Perhaps it’s something to do with the amount of big name recent launches everyone has been doing recently, or otherwise a sign of impending San Diego Comic-Con (Publishers are already working on the timing of their big announcements, even though it’s more than a month away), but this is an astonishingly quiet week for new releases – DC Comics pretty much skip the week altogether, although you should probably be looking at picking up the second (and concluding) volume of Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War as well as the tenth and final collection of Y: The Last Man, called Whys and Wherefores (“Y”s and wherefores? Get it? Oh, it’ll make sense when you get to the last chapter). Otherwise, their big release of the week is probably a “deluxe” hardcover reissue of World’s Finest, a beautifully-illustrated (by Steve Rude) Superman/Batman story from the 1990s, as written by Watchmen’s Dave Gibbons.

Marvel, too, is taking this week relatively easy. Sure, there’s the fourth and final volume of Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, a paperback release for Neil Gaiman’s revival of Jack Kirby’s Eternals, and even a “director’s cut” rerelease of the first issue of Mark Millar’s increasingly-racist Kick Ass, but nothing really jumps out as particularly worthy of your time or attention. You may be interested by the sound of something calling itself Jack Kirby’s Galactic Bounty Hunters, but trust me when I tell you that you would never forgive yourself if you spent any money whatsoever on that particular book.

No, this Wednesday, the message from your local comic store should be loud and clear: Kill All Parents. That’s the title of a new series by Aqua Leung’s Mark Andrew Smith and Marcelo Dichiara that shows you the darker side of superheroics… which happens to include the murder of any and all parents said superheroes may happen to have. What is behind such a plan, and who is doing the murdering? You’ll have to pick up the book to find out, but there may be a machine that can predict the world that’s coming, and a terrible possible future to avoid, involved. You have been warned.

If that’s not your cup of supertea, then why not try The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, the first collection of Gerard Way’s superhero story that no less than Grant Morrison called “[a]n ultraviolet psychedelic sherbert bomb of wit and ideas.” I think that’s supposed to be a good thing; just don’t hold Way’s My Chemical Romance past against him (And if you’re just in it for the prettiness, this book is worth picking up just for its visuals from Gabriel Ba with covers by Prada-favorite James Jean).

As usual, the week’s new releases can be viewed in full here, and you can find where to shop for the origin stories of new generations of superheroes over here. And, although I’m sure there’s nothing to be worried about, I’d check on how your parents are, just in case you have latent superpowers that you aren’t aware of. You never can tell, after all.

Is the rest of the world more ready for depressing ecological dystopias that fail to scare or thrill than the US? That would appear to be the message from this weekend's international movie box office results, where - unlike in the United States - M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening outgrossed rival The Incredible Hulk. But, just like Public Enemy once said, don't believe the hype. There's more to this clash of titans than meets the eye.

While it's true that The Happening made $32.1 million to Hulk's $31 million, Marvel's less-than-jolly green giant actually played in less theaters across the world and in each of those theaters, outperformed Shyamalan's dour eco-drama (The actual numbers: Happening played in 5714 theaters across 88 international markets, while Hulk was shown in 3165 theaters across 38 markets). In countries where both movies opened on the same day, Ed Norton's love letter to Bill Bixby outshone 91 minutes of Mark Wahlberg Vs. Trees on a fairly impressive level:

"The Happening" topped $1 million in 10 markets and scored first places in France with $4.7 million, in Spain with $3.8 million and in Italy with $1.9 million — with no competition from "The Incredible Hulk." It finished third in the U.K. with $3.4 million as "Hulk" easily won with $6.3 million and the third frame of "Sex and the City" took in $3.7 million.

"Hulk" generated socko Mexican biz, with $4.6 million, 86% higher than "The Happening," and Universal's biggest launch ever for that territory. The superhero pic also scored in the booming Russian market with $3.7 million, including U's biggest opening day ever on Thursday.

Universal noted "The Incredible Hulk" had easily outperformed 2003's "Hulk" in markets including South Korea, where it took $3.3 million, 88% up on its predecessor. "Hulk" grossed $113 million overseas by the end of its run. "Incredible Hulk" expands next weekend into Italy and Spain and won't face another superhero pic until Sony opens "Hancock" in early July.

The moral of this story for studio bosses? Perhaps it's "Rushing out your spooky-ooky movies worldwide before the big summer movies get released is a good idea," or maybe it's just "South Koreans apparently really, really wanted to see that new Hulk movie." Nonetheless, look at the combined grosses for the two movies and just imagine how big a movie version of Hulk vs. The Rain would be.

Happening beats Hulk overseas [Variety]

Apparently inspired as much by writer Jim Shooter's pretentions as the desire to produce a sequel to toy tie-in hit Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars, the original nine issue series from 1985 tied into over thirty other comics, as mysterious god-like being "The Beyonder" - part deus ex machina, part McGuffin who "comes from beyond" - traveled around the Marvel Universe to try and understand this thing we call life. Trying to stretch the superhero comic outside of its usual subject matters, the Beyonder ran into abused children, hookers with hearts of gold and, yes, lots and lots of super-heroes on his quest, but apparently not enough superheroes to stop fans remembering it as "dull, pedantic, pretentious, lackwitted and just plain no fun" and "nine issues worth of mood swings and whiny bitching on an Olympic level".

Surprisingly, if pre-order options at Amazon and Target are to be believed, almost the entire story (Issues of Rom and The Micronauts have had to be skipped because of rights issues) is being collected in a 1168 page-long celebration to the excesses of the '80s. The seemingly-official PR for the book reads:

He rescued the Hulk and destroyed the New Mutants, he wrestled the Thing and made a deal with Mephisto, he created Kurse and Thundersword and a tower of gold! Doctor Strange tried to teach him; Dazzler tried to romance him! The Avengers wanted to recruit him, Daredevil to sue him, and Puma and Deadpool just wanted him dead! Hero, villain, force of nature and deus ex machina all in one: the Beyonder! For good or ill, he was one of the most powerful agents of change in the eighties, and now you can see all of his work all at once!

At almost $100, it's a pricey way to relive childhood memories of a god shooting up heroin to understand what it is to be a junkie (Oh, it actually happens), but it's also a surprisingly pursuasive one...

Amazon Pre-Order: Secret Wars II
Target Pre-Order: Secret Wars II

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Created both as a primer to bring new moviegoing fans up to date with the character's status in the comics and also as an introduction to this week's Skaar, Son of Hulk series, the digital comic - Sorry, people who hate the shitty Flash-based interface of Marvel's official digital comic site - does its best to quickly run through the last couple of years of Hulk comics in ten pages, telling you all you need to know about how the best laid plans of Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic resulted in the destruction of a planet and getting their asses kicked by grumpy aliens as a result. Sure, you miss out on the subtlety and explosions for the most part, but that's the kind of thing that you have to pay money for.

Hulk Saga [Marvel.com]

Marvel Comics’ big summer Spider-Man storyline, “New Ways To Die”, promises to introduce a new villain into the webslinger’s life: a mysterious character connected to his enemy Venom, called Anti-Venom. The most recent issue of Marvel’s Fantastic Four series featured Mr. Fantastic stopping an invincible foe by wearing his new “Anti-Galactus suit”. Sensing a trend here? We've got the full back story on this new anti-zeitgeist.

This isn’t the first time that comic characters have had to face their opposites, although it’s mostly been a DC schtick; Superman’s imperfect clone Bizarro does everything Superman does backwards, after all, and the Flash has had a Reverse-Flash to deal with for decades, now (There’s even a Legion of Super-Villains for the Legion of Super-Heroes). It's not even the first time that a villain has used the "Anti-" prefix (Who can forget Crisis on Infinite Earths' Anti-Monitor, who outlasted the Monitor by about two thirds of the series?). But Marvel’s latest version of this idea may have less to do with exploring the undersides of villains’ identities and more to do with exploiting brands for cheap identification - Fantastic Four’s Anti-Galactus was a one-time appearance with no connection to the series’ giant planet-eater beyond the name, after all. As to who and what Anti-Venom turns out to be, that’s still shrouded in mystery for the most part, with Amazing Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker playing dumb when asked to elaborate:

[He’s a b]rand new [character]...but he does have a tie to an existing villain in Spidey's life.

Gee, do you think that villain could be Venom? (The current and former Venoms have already been announced to be appearing in "New Ways To Die"; current speculation is that the original Venom, Eddie Brock, will turn into the Anti-Venom.)

For a more in-depth dichotomy between hero and villain, maybe you should be looking to The Sentry, Marvel’s Superman clone who happens to be his own worst enemy… literally. The Sentry’s arch-nemesis, The Void, happens to be the evil side of the Sentry’s schizophrenic secret identity, Robert Reynolds, split into his own, separate, body. I could explain exactly how that works, but all you really need to know is, “Hey. It’s comics.” That whole “man versus his own dark side” thing is much easier here; even Captain America is doing it (Give it two months, and one of them will be calling himself the Anti-Cap).

Introducing the Anti-Venom [IGN]

The Marvel Zombies franchise - created by Civil War's Mark Millar for a Fantastic Four storyline before being expanded into a very dark comedy of its own by Robert Kirkman, known for his own independent zombie series The Walking Dead - has previously taken place entirely in an alternate universe where all the familiar characters have either become zombified or been eaten by their zombie brethren in various ways. The latest series, announced this weekend at the Wizard World Philadelphia convention, breaks the mold in three ways: Firstly, it brings onboard a new writer, Fred Van Lente (accompanied by new artist, Kevin Walker, replacing Criminal's Sean Philips). Secondly, it's taking place partially in the same universe as all your other Marvel comics (Unless you happen to get the Ultimate titles, in which case, never mind). And thirdly and most importantly, this time it isn't being played for laughs.

Van Lente explained what he's planning for the new series:

What I'm doing here tapping into my inner James Cameron. The analogy I keep using is that Marvel Zombies 3 is like what James Cameron's Aliens was to the original Alien. We're using the same sort of props, but we're just doing something completely different with them. Marvel Zombies 3 is more of a sort of action/suspence/horror comic. I really want people to care about the protagonists and hope they don't get eaten or infected and turn on their comrades... Pandemics are terrible things, and they're very unpredictable. They can have long-lasting and permanent effects, and this one definitely will.

Fred Van Lente on Marvel Zombies 3 [Newsarama]

So now that we solved the problem about the individual spoiler pages turning up in your RSS feed, we've decided to try this new format for the next week. Let us know how you're liking it. I thought it was a good sign that we had comment threads happening in the individual spoiler posts, which wouldn't show up on the front page as featured comments. Also, this gets around the "videos all start playing at once" problem. But let me know what you think!

Avatar:
Wanted:
The Dark Knight:
Doctor Who:
Lost:
Heroes:
Fringe:
Marvel Secret Invasion:

Boom! Studios - now home to official friend of io9, Ian Brill - has our first new title of the week, Zombie Tales; Sensibly realizing that there's no long-term story potential in zombies unless you're Robert Kirkman (a conclusion obvious to anyone who's seen 28 Weeks Later), Zombie Tales is a new short story anthology series, letting various creators get their favorite zombie fantasies out of their heads before moving on to healthier things.

Alternatively, if zombies are played out for you, you may want to pick up the first volume of Roswell, Texas, which mixes alternate history (What if Texas didn't join the United States, but remained independent?) with a flying saucer crash and all manner of hell breaking loose as a result, courtesy of SF novelist and Lando Calrissian fanboy L. Neil Smith. Now, if only we could put alternate history zombies into a comic, we'd probably be rich. Or ignored.

The big comics from the Big Two publishers are an interesting bag this week. Marvel has the final issue of Joss Whedon's X-Men, called Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men for subtlety's sake, and the much more fascinating Marvel 1985, in which Wanted and Civil War's Mark Millar works out his childhood issues by bringing the Marvel villains from the comics page into "our world," with only one comic nerd recognizing what's going on. Despite the beautiful artwork from Tommy Lee Edwards, is this just another stage of Mark's "comic nerds will save us all" schtick (see Kick-Ass), or something more sinister?

(Marvel's also putting out the second collection of Kung-Fu actioneer The Immortal Iron Fist, subtitled The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven. Pick it up and find yourself falling in love with a super-sumo wrestler called "Fat Cobra". No, really.)

DC, meanwhile, is really going after your money this week, however: Never mind the long-awaited first issue of Grant Morrison's Final Crisis epic — as beautiful and grand in scale as it will undoubtedly be — or even the second-to-last issue of Morrison's note-perfect All Star Superman series. It's all about the collections this week.

Want to catch up on the critically-acclaimed Starman series by James Robinson and Tony Harris? A new hardcover series of collections starts this week. Want to learn more about Superman's home planet? Pick up the Superman: World of Krypton collection (with early art by Hellboy's Mike Mignola). Prefer 1970s SF weirdness? Jack Kirby's OMAC: One Man Army Corps will prepare you for the world that's coming. Looking for some four-color masturbatory material for the costume fetishist in your life? Comic Book Cover Portfolio: Women of The DC Universe will... um... satisfy you? It's literally all coming from DC's wheelhouse this week, friends.

And it's literally all going to your local comic book store, which you can find here. And if you need to know exactly what you'll find in those stores tomorrow, why not look at the complete list?

The First Avenger: Captain America is one of a bevy of upcoming Marvel movies announced earlier this year.

It'll be set during World War II just like in the Capn's comic book beginnings. He hinted that this movie would try and stick very closely to the original comics, in which Captain America fights in World War II and then gets frozen in a block of ice and reawakened in the present day. Feige addressed Tony Stark work bench rumors, and confirmed that yes, that was Captain America's shield you saw in the Iron Man movie. But, it it was just a treat and won't have any impact on the new Captain A. story. And finally there will be no shirtless stammering version of Captain America, since Matthew McConaughey has not been cast in this film. [IESB]

Talking about the new series, Claremont explained the lure of writing a comic outside of usual continuity:

The advantage of a book like GeNext or Exiles is that I can pretty much define the realities we are playing in... my approach is not a solo-title it is a potential foundation for new line and perhaps if we are successful we can bring back GeNext for a second arc or try it out on a one-year basis or even as a potential ongoing—or even create a spin-off. It's almost like having the potential for a second line of "Ultimate-style" books.

Chris Claremont on GeNext [Newsarama]

The Ultimate line was created in the year 2000 as an attempt by Marvel to make their core characters more friendly to a mainstream audience who didn't feel like wading through 40 years of continuity in order to enjoy a Spider-Man comic (The alternative, making Spider-Man comics that didn't rely on 40 years of continuity in order to be enjoyable, didn't seem to occur to them for some reason). After the successful launch of first series Ultimate Spider-Man, the line has kept itself small, concentrating mostly on characters who happened to have movies coming out - titles in the line have included Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate Iron Man, Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra and Ultimate Sucky Ghost Rider Oh God Why Did They Go With Nic Cage. Okay, maybe not that last one.

Sadly, as Marvel's main line started getting more big name creators, attention from fans and - most importantly - sales, the Ultimate line has fallen into disrepair; something that Ultimate Origins aims to rectify. And with reasons like this, who can fail to be excited?

Wow? How can anyone not want to see "the first appearance of the Ultimate ?"? Not to mention "The End of Wouldn't You Like To Know"? It's like they knew they had to try and get people's attentions, but forgot to do anything about it before slapping this together in their lunch break on deadline day. Here's hoping that the already-announced sequel Ultimatum, written by Heroes exec producer Jeph Loeb, will get more people excited.

Marvel Lists Top Ten Reasons To Read Ultimate Origins #1 [Newsarama]

The villain, who'll appear in the new Invincible Iron Man series, is an update of old Captain America badguy MODOK (Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing) courtesy of Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca. Apparently, I wasn't the only one disappointed by the lack of bark action, either, if the last line of the official PR is anything to go by:

And for those of you who expected M.O.D.O.G. to be some sort of big-headed, killer canine monstrosity...well, that's just preposterous. All hail M.O.D.O.G.!

First Look: Iron Man Takes on MODOG [Marvel.com]

Secret Invasion, Marvel's big crossover has a few things on its side. Being written by arguably Marvel's most popular writer Brian Michael Bendis - writer of New Avengers, Mighty Avengers and Ultimate Spider-Man - and the result of literally years of planning (Bendis started laying the groundwork for this storyline with his 2004 Avengers Disassembled story), the idea of aliens having infiltrated Earth by disguising themselves as superheroes and villains throughout history allows for any and all character development (including deaths - This week's second issue brought back a character by retconning the death into having happened to an undercover Skrull - to be undone without having to say that all those old stories never actually happened. They just happened to aliens, is all.

Final Crisis, on the other hand, comes somewhat out of left field. It's also the result of a long-running storyline, but one previously told in scattered titles - Who knew that Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle would be so important? - before ultimately spinning out of an unpopular, critically-panned, series (Countdown to Final Crisis). Its real problem, however, may be its lack of high concept hook; sure, it's what happens when "evil wins," but what does that actually mean?

Let's compare the two in what we do know:

The Pitch: Like all of Marvel's big event stories, Secret Invasion has a movie-conscious high concept sale: "Aliens are amongst us, trying to take over the world! Who do you trust?" Final Crisis, though, is pretty much relying on the creators' star power and a vague promise of putting favored heroes through bad times to sell itself. Evil may have won the cosmic struggle, but how does that concept translate into a story...?

Win: Secret Invasion

The Scale: Secret Invasion more or less takes over the entire Marvel line for its' run - The main series is eight monthly issues, but there are multiple spin-off titles (including Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust, Secret Invasion: Front Line, Secret Invasion: X-Men, Secret Invasion: Spider-Man, Secret Invasion: Thor, Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways, Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four and Secret Invasion: Inhumans) as well as continuations of the storyline in issues of other series; by midway through its run, the storyline will have totaled 34 comics, and that's not counting all the stories that led up to the official launch. By contrast, Final Crisis is fairly self-contained; besides the seven-issue main series, there are seven spin-offs to bear the brand (The mini-series Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge, Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds and Final Crisis: Revelations, and the one-off issues Final Crisis: Requiem, Final Crisis: Submit, Final Crisis: Resist and Final Crisis: Superman Beyond) with a minimum of crossover into regular series promised. By midway through Crisis' run, you'll have had to purchase nine comics - again, not counting all of the prologue books - to get the whole story.

Win: Depends on how you look at it; Secret Invasion is bigger, but Final Crisis is cheaper

The Creators: Invasion's Bendis and artist Lenil Yu have the fan-favorite thing sewn up, having previously worked together on New Avengers and having separate runs on books like Daredevil, Ultimate Spider-Man, Superman: Birthright and X-Men. However, they've probably not got the cache of Final Crisis' Grant Morrison and JG Jones. Having written acclaimed runs on JLA, X-Men, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, 52 and more personal projects like The Invisibles and We3, Morrison is easily one of the most highly-regarded comic writers around, and Jones' work on Wanted and the covers for 52 have made him a well-loved artist... and one who rarely does anything other than covers. Crisis will be his first sequential work in four years.

Win: Final Crisis

So, is it a tie? Can you play comics Switzerland and not choose a side? The final choice may simply come down to what kind of comics you like - Both series are, in their own way, dealing with cultural and political zeitgeists, so it may just come down to whether you want to see bad guy aliens in positions of power punching Iron Man, or the more metaphorical thrills of submission and subjugation of free will by a New, evil, God. The decision, as they used to say on Blind Date, is yours.

Final Crisis #1 [DC Comics]
Secret Invasion [Marvel Comics]