Most comic geeks had their attentions focused on the Big Apple Comic Con in New York and the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, but fanboys and fangirls of all ages had another place to go this past weekend to escape reality and indulge their nerdly obsessions without the flea market shilling and threat of William Shatner encounters that come with the comic con scene. The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY, opened its American Comic Book Heroes exhibit this past weekend, adding yet another level of awesome to the already stacked onslaught on the imagination that is (barely) contained within its walls.

Sadly, I couldn’t make it to Rochester for the exhibit myself. But I had family in attendance and they all had a great time. I come from mighty nerd stock and can guarantee, if you are half the geek that any one of my family members is, you’ll want to consider a trip to Strong.

Check out the Strong Museum website for more info, and click on over to the other side of this link for a peek inside the American Comic Book Heroes exhibit.

Now that Marvel’s much-hyped Spider-Woman Motion Comic has just concluded and they’ve raked in the dough from a successful run on iTunes, they’ve has gone and made all five episodes of the Agent of SWORD series available FOR FREE on Hulu. Early adapters of Apple products are used to getting burned, but still…

Artist Mike Oeming has released this double-page image — featuring a Joss Whedon look-alike mixing it up with Enki Bilal — as a tease for the impending relaunch of Powers from Marvel/ICON.

Zombieland was a fun movie–goofy fun, video game fun, the kind of action ride that taps into your inner daydreaming child whose fantasies involve machine guns, monsters, and tasty processed dessert treats. But some of us take our flesh eating horror more seriously than that. And for those people, the real zombie land takes place in a monthly, black-and-white comic from Image Comics.

The Walking Dead is an amazing comic–every issue sucking you into a devastated world overrun by zombies, but where the few surviving humans are still the most dangerous creatures on two legs. Writer Robert Kirkman raises the stakes on tragedy and heartbreak every month, pushing his cast to their limits every issue. The latest issue, #66, concluded the “Fear the Hunters” arc, which had the Walkies encounter another group of survivors who have adapted their own tastes to those of the undead, hunting and feeding on the living as conventional food supplies run out all around. The five-part storyline was virtually zombie-free, and there wasn’t a roamer in sight in this final issue–yet it was easily one of the most horrifying chapters in the series to date.

A week or so ago, there was an item making the rounds on Facebook entitled “Michael Jackson vs Mr. Bean” which everyone was liking and saying was awesome and such. I didn’t bother to check it out at the time because I couldn’t care less about Mr. Bean — and consequently I temporarily deprived myself of an AMAZING PIECE OF STOP MOTION ANIMATION. If you missed it too, here’s your chance to rectify that.

Reed Exhibitions’ Lance Fensterman, just posted the following on his blog & Facebook:

Just got a call from the NYCC crew (Larry, Mark and Tonya) that the Wizard people kicked them out of Big Apple Con! Too funny. They had a whole bevy of security guards escort them out. Wow.

He goes on to contrast how Wizard staffers were welcomed into NYCC in the past and allowed to hang out and look around. Click here to read the whole post.

Here’s hoping I don’t have any problems picking up my staff pass tomorrow. Who knows what fun I might miss!

I don’t think you’re ready, for Sue Storm’s jelly! Sideshow Collectibles’s new Invisible Woman vinyl figure by “Rockin Jelly Bean” that is!

Marvel, in collaboration with Stephen King, is proud to announce a new chapter in the Dark Tower graphic fiction adaptation-DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER. Beginning in 2010, The New York Times Best-Selling creative team of Peter David, Robin Furth and Richard Isanove return for a new arc exploring the life of Roland Deschain, revealing how and why he began his pursuit of the man in black across Mid-World’s Mohaine Desert!

Beginning another epic tale, told over multiple limited series, DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER marks another milestone for the graphic fiction sensation that’s captivated fans worldwide. The Dark Tower collaboration between Marvel and Stephen King has drawn accolades from all corners, revolutionizing the comic book industry with previously unprecedented mainstream media coverage and the first worldwide midnight openings for a graphic fiction series.

“We are extremely excited to continue our epic journey into the DARK TOWER universe with THE GUNSLINGER,” says Ruwan Jayatilleke, Senior Vice President, Strategic Development-Acquisitions & Licensing. “And we are equally ecstatic to continue our collaboration with Stephen King as well as keeping comic book fans on their toes!”

Following the climactic Battle of Jericho Hill, Roland Deschain now begins the most important journey of his young life in DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER.

The first 100 people to pre-order the first issue of the adaptation will save 30%! Make sure to log in to your account and sign up for the Product Announcements Newsletter. We’ll send an email out as soon as the first issue goes up for sale. Don’t miss out on the savings, sign up for Product Announcements today.

Continuing their mastery of mustering mighty media hype, Marvel has announced an event-packed day (in NYC, natch) to celebrate their newest motion comic, Astonishing X-Men. Dubbed MarvelFest 2009, things kick off with a signing (with Neal Adams, Chris Claremont & Dan Slott), then a costume contest with prizes & giveaways, and culminating in the live, outdoor premiere of the AXM Motion Comic in Union Square.

Created by British writer Rob Williams and released over the course of a tumultuous two-years (2002-2004) that saw multiple scheduling delays and artist changes, Cla$$war has had a long road to completion and an even longer one to collection. But the years between the floppies and the new collected edition have allowed the series to develop something of a cult following. At least that’s the impression I get from the recent PR blitz by publisher Com.X and some of the promotional blogging I’ve read about the project. Before any of this, I’d never even heard of Cla$$war.