Valiant readies return of X-O Manowar

Valiant Entertainment will begin its revival of 1990s publisher Valiant this May with a new ongoing series of X-O Manowar from writer Robert Venditti, best known for acclaimed science fiction series The Surrogates, and former Conan artist Cary Nord. Bleeding Cool also reports former Iron Fist artist David Aja is working on a relaunch of Bloodshot.

Helmed by former Marvel editor in chief Jim Shooter and featuring a mix of veteran and rookie creators including Barry Windsor-Smith and Bob Layton, Valiant Comics launched its superhero line in 1992 with titles including Harbinger, X-O Manowar, Rai and Shadowman. While the ambitious shared universe concept was an immediate success, with sales rivalling those of Marvel, DC and Image, the company went into decline following a mid-90s sale to video game publisher Acclaim and eventually folded in 2000.

 

Garth Ennis takes on The Shadow

Pulp crimefighter The Shadow returns this April through Dynamite Entertainment in a new ongoing series from The Boys writer Garth Ennis and Green Hornet: Year One artist Aaron Campbell. Originally introduced as the mysterious narrator of 1930s radio serial Detective Story Hour, the Shadow proved so popular with listeners that the character was developed into a monthly pulp novel series from magician-turned-writer Walter B. Gibson and later his own radio serial and newspaper comic strip, and more recently a number of short-lived comic book series and a 1994 movie adaptation.

Also in April Dynamite will publish a new collected edition of writer-artist Howard Chaykin's The Shadow: Blood and Judgment, an acclaimed but controversial 1986 reinvention of the character.

 

DC announces, cancels six titles

DC has announced six new DCU titles will debut this May, headlined by the return of Batman Incorporated from Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham and the debut of Dial H, based on classic series Dial H for Hero, by cult fantasy novelist China Miéville with artist Mateus Santoluoco. Also joining the lineup are the previously announced Justice Society ongoing series Earth 2 by James Robinson and Nicola Scott, World's Finest starring Huntress and Power Girl from writer Paul Levitz with rotating artists George Perez and Kevin Maguire, The Ravagers by Howard Mackie and Ian Churchill, and war series GI Combat with lead feature The War That Time Forgot by J.T. Krul and Ariel Olivetti.

As part of this 'second wave' of the New 52 six of last September's launch titles have been cancelled, with Blackhawks, Hawk and Dove, Men of War, Mister Terrific, OMAC and Static Shock to end in April with their eighth issues.

Spidey, Daredevil, Punisher feel The Omega Effect

New York's three premier superheroes will lock horns in April for The Omega Effect, a crossover between Avenging Spider-Man, Daredevil and Punisher penned by Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. The story picks up on Daredevil's recent acquisition of the Omega Drive, a digital archive containing secret information on the world's five largest criminal organisations including Hydra and AIM. All three issues of the mini-event will be illustrated by current Punisher artist Marco Checchetto, who has previously worked on both Daredevil and Amazing Spider-Man.

Millar and Quitely unveil Jupiter's Children

Mark Millar and Frank Quitely will reunite this September for Jupiter's Children, a ten-issue limited series to be published through Image Comics, as part of Millar's forthcoming slate of creator-owned projects under the 'Millarworld' banner. The Scottish pairing first worked together in the early 2000s on DC Wildstorm's The Authority with an acclaimed and controversial run that catapulted both creators to star status. Speaking with Comic Book Resources Millar hinted Jupiter's Children is split between a group of explorers in the early twentieth century and their super-powered offspring in the present day.

Bendis, Simonson team for Avengers

Legendary writer-artist Walt Simonson will return to Marvel to illustrate a six-part Avengers arc kicking off with April's issue #25 and tieing in to Avengers vs X-Men. Simonson broke into the industry in the 1970s at DC but is best known for his work at Marvel during the 1980s and 90s on titles including Thor, X-Factor and Fantastic Four. Avengers writer Brian Michael Bendis, who will wrap up a lengthy tenure on Earth's Mightiest Heroes this year, credits Simonson as an inspiration and early mentor for his comics career.

Ultimate Spider-Man toon debuts 1 April

Marvel and Disney have announced the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series will debut on US cable channel Disney XD on 1 April, as part of a 'Marvel Universe' programming block also including a new season of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Based on the Marvel series launched in 2000, the animated production is penned by series co-creator Brian Michael Bendis, Batman: The Animated Series writer/producer Paul Dini, and Ben 10 creators Joe Casey, Joe Kelley, Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau. A preview of the series screened at last year's San Diego Comic Con confirmed Spider-Man will join the Avengers and fight villains including Electro, Venom, Doctor Doom and the Wrecking Crew.

 

Hitch, Ross team for America's Got Superpowers

Superstar artist Bryan Hitch will join writer Jonathan Ross for America's Got Powers, a reality TV-themed series launching through Image this April. The project is Hitch's first foray into creator-owned work and comes after a decade-long period at Marvel where he worked on titles including The Ultimates and Fantastic Four, and will be the sophomore effort for UK television personality and celebrity comics fan Ross after 2011's Turf. Hitch's art will still be featured at Marvel during 2012 in a forthcoming Ultron-centred Avengers series with Brian Michael Bendis.

Alan Taylor new Thor 2 director

Marvel Studios has announced Alan Taylor will direct the forthcoming sequel to this year's Thor feature film, with previous helmer Patty Jenkins recently dismissed over unspecified creative differences with the studio. Having made his feature debut in 1995 with cult crime film Palookavile, Taylor moved into directing for television with gigs including Oz, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Mad Men and most recently Game of Thrones. Marvel and Disney have previously announced a 15 November 2013 release date for Thor 2.

RIP Joe Simon, Eduardo Barreto

Legendary comics artist, writer, editor, publisher and historian Joe Simon has passed away aged 98. Born in 1913 in Rochester, New York, Simon began working as a professional artist while still in high school and went on to establish a fruitful creative partnership with artist Jack Kirby, with the pair creating numerous characters including most notably Captain America. Simon also served as the first editor in chief of Marvel predecessor Timely Comics, where he gave the first writing gigs to a young Stan Lee.

Fan-favourite artist Eduardo Barreto has passed away at age 57 following a period of illness. The Uruguayan penciller began his career in his home country before breaking into the US market and establishing himself as a popular house artist at DC Comics during the 1980s, including an extended run on New Teen Titans with writer Marv Wolfman.

RIP Jerry Robinson

Comics artist Jerry Robinson, best known as creator of Batman rogue the Joker, has passed away aged 89. Born in New Jersey in 1922, Robinson broke into comics aged 17 when he was hired by Batman co-creator and original artist Bob Kane as an inker and art assistant. Robinson soon graduated to pencilling along with co-creating numerous enduring characters including the Dark Knight's first sidekick Robin, villains the Joker and Two-Face, and Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth. He moved into newspaper comic strips in the late 1950s, going on to serve as president of both the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and the National Cartoonists Society, and in the 1970s was a prominent figure in the comics creators rights movement.

Marvel unveils Avengers vs X-Men; Bendis to leave Avengers

Marvel's two premier superhero families will go head-to-head in 2012 with Avengers vs X-Men, a 12-issue biweekly series launching in April from the 'Architects' writing crew of Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman and Jason Aaron. Scripting duties will rotate among the five writers with each issue, with superstar artists Olivier Coipel, Adam Kubert and John Romita Jr to each illustrate a four-issue 'act'. Central to the story will be the recently returned Scarlet Witch and heralded mutant messiah Hope Summers, with the pair to be spotlighted in a prologue issue co-written by Bendis and Aaron and pencilled by Frank Cho.

2012 will also see Bendis step down from the Avengers titles after an eight-year, 200-plus issue run on Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Speaking with Comic Book Resources the Eisner-winning scribe revealed he will be leaving both Avengers and New Avengers at the conclusion of an upcoming crossover featuring Norman Osborn's reformed HAMMER, and also exit new title Avengers Assemble with artist Mark Bagley after its first storyline.

Nicholas Cage's Action Comics #1 sells for record $2m

A rare high-quality copy of Action Comics #1 believed to be owned by actor Nicholas Cage has sold through online auction for a record price of $US2.16 million. Graded at 9.0 ('very fine/near mint') on the CGC scale, the June 1938 issue featuring the first appearance of Superman becomes the first comic to break the $2m barrier and eclipses the $1.5m sale of an 8.5-graded copy in March 2010.

The comic was stolen along with a similarly rare copy of Detective Comics #27 from Cage's Hollywood home in 2000, but recovered by the Los Angeles PD in April this year. Cage is a known celebrity comics fan, named his second son Kal-El after Superman's Kryptonian birth name, and was in the frame to play the Man of Steel in Tim Burton's ill-fated attempt to reboot the movie series in the late 1990s.

David Yates to direct Doctor Who reboot movie

Variety reports Harry Potter series director David Yates has signed on to direct a big-screen version of Doctor Who that will reboot the iconic British television series. The UK-born filmmaker is developing the project with BBC Worldwide Productions head Jane Tranter, who previously oversaw the 2005 television revival of Doctor Who. Current series lead Matt Smith has previously confirmed he will be leaving the role next year.

Yates began his career on UK television with acclaimed series including State of Play and Sex Traffic before moving to features with 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, seeing the Harry Potter series through to this year's two-movie conclusion.

Alexander Payne to direct Wilson

Academy-Award winning filmmaker Alexander Payne has revealed to Empire that he will direct a screen adaptation of Daniel Clowes' 2010 graphic novel Wilson, from a screenplay by the author.

Marvel announces Nook exclusives

Marvel has entered the digital graphic novel market by partnering with US bookstore chain Barnes and Noble to release titles exclusively for its new Nook Tablet touchscreen e-reader, with initial offerings to include Civil War, Ultimate Spider-Man, Captain America, Invincible Iron Man, Thor, Astonishing X-Men and New Avengers. DC recently announced its digital graphic novel slate will be exclusive to Amazon's Kindle Fire, a move to which Barnes and Noble responded by pulling DC graphic novels from its store shelves.

Marvel eyes same-day digital release

Tech blog Gizmodo has the scoop that Marvel will progressively introduce same-day digital release across its entire superhero line by next March, with titles to join at #1 issues, new story arcs and other jumping-on points. The initiative will exclude licensed titles such as Stephen King's The Stand and the mature readers MAX line.

Marvel was the first major publisher to explore online comics distribution with its Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited web library and through the Comixology app on the iPad and iPhone, but recently lost ground to DC when the rival press adopted same-day digital release with its New 52 relaunch. The House of Ideas recently introduced same-day online release with the relaunched Ultimate line, the Spider-Man titles and the #1 issues of Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine and the X-Men, and the forthcoming Avenging Spider-Man will feature free digital downloads with print copies of the first three issues.

Criminal heading to big screen

Variety reports 30 Days of Night and Twilight: Eclipse director David Slade has signed on to helm a movie adaptation of Coward, the first arc of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' hugely acclaimed noir series Criminal, with Brubaker himself to pen the screenplay. The UK-born Slade worked in music videos before making his feature debut with 2005's controversial Hard Candy and is also attached to direct a cinematic reboot of Daredevil for 20th Century Fox, which recently optioned Brubaker and Phillips' other creator-owned book Incognito.

In other comics-to-screen news, AMC has renewed its hit zombie series The Walking Dead for a third season after record-breaking ratings for the debut episode of its sophomore outing.

 

Fox eyes Punisher TV series

Deadline reports US network Fox has ordered a pilot for a Punisher television series from Marvel Television and producer Edward Allen Bernero, former showrunner and writer of Criminal Minds and Third Watch. The project is set to deviate significantly from the source material by making Frank Castle a NYPD detective who also moonlights as the titular vigilante.

Millar and Gibbons join The Secret Service

Kick-Ass and Ultimates writer Mark Millar will join Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons in February for The Secret Service, a new creator-owned series to be published through Marvel's Icon imprint. More details are set to be revealed in the November issue of Millar's Clint magazine, as part of the buildup to 2012's wave of 'Millarworld' books also including Supercrooks with Leinil Francis Yu, a second series of Nemesis with Steve McNiven and a 'superhero epic' with Frank Quitely. 

New York Comic Con highlights

In anticipation of next year's Avengers feature film Marvel will launch a new Avengers Assemble ongoing series in March from Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, featuring a movie-inspired team of Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Hulk.

The acclaimed Criminal and Incognito pairing of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips returns in 2012 with Fatale, a 12-part Image series mixing noir with Lovecraftian-style horror.

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige noted there are plans for 2013's Iron Man 3 to begin the buildup to a second Avengers movie.

DC's Vertigo imprint will follow the recent DCU relaunch in moving to simultaneous print and digital release for many of its titles, with series including Sweet Tooth, Spaceman, Hellblazer, American Vampire, Fables and The Unwritten beginning same-day digital release in October through January.

Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan are the new creative pairing on Conan, with the team behind the acclaimed Demo reuniting at Dark Horse for a 25-part epic adaptation of Robert E. Howard's classic Queen of the Black Coast story. In addition, Wood's new creator-owned project The Massive with artist Kristian Donaldson will debut in January with a three-part serialised story in Dark Horse Presents #8-10 ahead of the launch of an ongoing monthly title in June.

Wood will also be returning to Marvel with Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega, a five-part miniseries with artists Mark Brooks and Roland Boschi centred on conflict between Wolverine and Quentin Quire at Wolverine's newly founded Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.

The second book of J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis' Superman: Earth One is slated for release next October, and will feature the Parasite.

Following a preview in Marvel's forthcoming Point One special a new Scarlet Spider ongoing series from Christopher Yost and Ryan Stegman will launch in January.

IDW will unite many of its titles for a second crossover event early next year, with Infestation 2 to feature characters from Transformers, GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dungeons and Dragons, 30 Days of Night and Danger Girl taking on H.P. Lovecraft's Old Ones. The publisher is also readying a new Danger Girl ongoing series to debut in mid-2012.

Jeph Loeb and Simone Bianchi will return to Wolverine to resurrect the title character's arch nemesis Sabertooth.

Dark Horse continues its exploration of the Star Wars Expanded Universe with five new series including Dawn of the Jedi by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, chronicling the origins of the Jedi Order.

Rick Remender and Gabriel Hardman will take charge of the Secret Avengers in the new year, with the 'black ops' arm of Earth's Mightiest Heroes to gain several new members including Captain Britain, Giant Man and new leader Hawkeye.

Rob Liefeld has announced plans to revive his Extreme Comics line through Image during 2012 with projects including the 'lost' final issue of Alan Moore's Supreme, to be illustrated by Erik Larsen from a previously unused script.

Ann Nocenti is the new ongoing writer of Green Arrow as of issue #7, with the former Daredevil scribe returning to comics after a 15-year absence.

Geoff Darrow's cult kung fu western Shaolin Cowboy is set to return next year with a three-issue miniseries through Dark Horse.

Patty Jenkins to direct Thor 2

Marvel Studios has confirmed Patty Jenkins will direct Thor 2, replacing Kenneth Branagh and beating contenders reportedly including Breck Eisner (The Crazies remake) and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin). Acclaimed for writing and directing the 2003 feature film Monster, Jenkins was recently nominated for an Emmy for directing the pilot episode of AMC crime drama The Killing.

Marvel and Disney have also announced the Thor sequel has been pushed back from July to November 2013 in a reshuffle to accommodate the studio's big screen revamp of The Lone Ranger from Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski, with Armie Hammer in the title role and Johnny Depp as Tonto.

Writers & Artists Unite @ the Grace Emily Saturday January 7th

Prospective writers and artists, professional scribes and illustrators, curious comic buffs and those up for a great chat or just a relaxing time are all more than welcome to get down to the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St Adelaide, on Saturday the 7th of January from 2 p.m for a monthly gathering of awesome talent!

Kitted out with some snacks, PFC-funded happy hours and wonderful persons, the Grace Emily plays host to everyone creatively minded on a sunny Saturday afternoon!