Superherohype got to premier a new teaser poster for Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man that showcases Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker perched up on a wall, casting an arachnophobia’s worst nightmare.

The tagline lets us believe this will be “The Untold Story” and we can only speculate as to what that entails, but excitement builds nonetheless.

The film is creeping out of dark corners and into theaters on July 3, 2012 and stars Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen and Sally Field.

LaTwan Holland was a writer for a local under ground newspaper, The Spinner Rack that covered comics, video games, anime and related movies and is currently the Producer of the DIRECT EDITION. To find out the latest that’s happening with LaTwan and the Direct Edition check them out at the DIRECT EDITION podcast, blog and you tube site.

Much like The Dark Knight Rises, yesterday saw the interwebs all abuzz when a bootlegged version of the Amazing Spider-Man trailer leaked online. Now there’s been a slightly more official (or less unofficial) release, giving us a clear view of the trailer for the film, which stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Martin Sheen, Sally Fields, and Dennis Leary. A full-on reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, the Mark Webb-directed film once again shows us Peter Parker’s journey from nerdy high shcooler to web-slinging superhero.

I’m still on the fence with this film. I can understand reboots like Batman Begins or X-Men: First Class, where we’re seeing origins that were never covered in previous films, but that isn’t the case here. It just feels a bit too repetitive right now.

Stephen Colbert is helping the comedy nightclub Comix raise money for Partners in Health as part of the “I’m with Coco Benefit for Haiti”

When the show scheduled for January 28th and featuring Dave Attell, Janeane Garofalo and Aasif Mandvi sold out, we wanted to keep raising money by auctioning off items like an autographed Spider-Man Marvel comic featuring Colbert himself on the cover!

After Colbert’s bid for president was shot down in 2008, Joe Quesada of Marvel Comics decided to keep it alive by immortalizing him as the controversial president-elect in issue #573 of The Amazing Spider-Man. Colbert won and then lost the presidency in Spider-Man’s world, prompting a showdown between Quesada and Colbert on The Colbert Report.

We’re so excited to be offering this mint-condition copy of the issue signed by Stephen Colbert as well as Quesada, and no feeling guilty for buying comic books, because it’s all for charity.

Other items are being collected for auction including an Andy Richter signed uniform for the Washington Generals (Harlem Globetrotters’ rival).

Comix auction page: www.comixny.com/auctions.html or the eBay page for the comic book: http://shop.ebay.com/140377972382

So head over there now to do a good thing, and get a nice collectible at the same time!

It was announced on Friday that Dark Avengers, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, and Avengers: The Initiative will all be “canceled” in the wake of Siege‘s conclusion in April. There’s no news yet on what form the book or books will take afterwards, but a rumor started circulating soon after the announcement that the Avengers books would go weekly, or at least semi-weekly like Amazing Spider-Man.

Now, there’s no way that Marvel would (or should) reduce the amount of Avengers books being published… As the current backbone of the Marvel U, they sell in droves, actually out pacing X-Men, the previous market juggernaut. So I’m not saying go back to publishing a singular “The Avengers” title, and that’s it.

However, if you use the Amazing Spider-Man model, you get three weeks of books, and a week off (or, as it’s working now, a supplementary book that helps flesh out the world of Spidey in the form of Web of Spider-Man). And the evidence is certainly there: we know Christos Gage is writing an Avengers: Academy book starting this Spring, which is almost assuredly the direct replacement for Avengers: The Initiative.

So putting the pieces together, you could cancel Dark Avengers, New Avengers, and Mighty Avengers, and replace them with a three-times-a-month The Avengers book written by the writing team of Brian Michael Bendis, Dan Slott, and maybe some young hot-shot writer with a blog (cough), supplemented by Avengers: Academy to take care of all the characters who don’t fit into the main book, and potentially sell the same amount of copies every week as you did with four different books. This is, for the most part, what’s happened with Amazing Spider-Man, and there’s no reason to think it wouldn’t happen for The Avengers.

Personally, if this is true, I think this is not only the best thing for the book, but Marvel Comics, and the industry at large. Here’s why!

- Weekly books have immediacy. Amazing Spider-Man, 52, heck, even Countdown when it was coming out, go right to the top of my stack. They’re the freshest in my mind, and in a certain way, the easiest to read, as it’s more like just continuing the next chapter of a book.

- Apropos to that point, it takes a lot of pressure off the book… With Spider-Man, every issue isn’t make or break for me, because I know a new issue is coming out the next week. Certainly there are highs and lows, but if I’m not crazy about an arc there’s a new one coming next month.

- It allows for experimentation. Again, with Spidey as an example, Steve Wacker and company have taken huge chances on non-traditional Spider-Man artists, and in fact given the book a more indie look across the board. Paul Azaceta and Marcos Martin would possibly never have gotten a chance to draw their brilliant arcs if the book was monthly… You would have had to stick with the big names, because every issue needs to sell as well, or better than the last.

- Same with the writing. The television “writer’s room” format adapted by 52, and continued with Amazing Spider-Man is a perfect way to work this sort of title. As far as I’ve heard, not only are the people nice, they love working with each other. For a writer, often working in isolation, it’s great to have a group to bounce ideas off of. It also allows for people to pick up each other’s slack… If Joe Kelly can’t complete an arc for whatever reason (possible reason: being too awesome), Dan Slott can pick up the last issue of the arc, and it’s not the end of the world. Contrast that with any other ongoing, where a pick-up writer stands out like a sore thumb, and gets the blogs a-talkin’.

- It’s easier to pick up. This, I think, is the most important point, and one that gets to the crux of what’s wrong with comics right now. Or, to put it more positively, what could fix comics right now: they’re monthly. The eternal dilemma of how to bring in new comic book fans is stopped entirely by the monthly schedule. Here’s an example: Captain America dies in Cap #25 (SPOILER!!!! OMG!!!). The title sells exponentially, it’s a good issue, but let’s assume the large majority of people picking it up are because they think it’ll sell well on eBay. Fine, eliminate all of those people, there’s still going to be a minority of people picking up the issue who like it enough to want to read the next issue.

Let’s say Cap #25 comes out on Wednesday, October 5th. That fan goes to the comic book store owner, and says, “Can’t wait for Cap #26, when does it come out?” And the comic store owner says, “A month from now, in November sometime. But not exactly a month from now. Five weeks from now, on a Wednesday, unless there’s a delay. I don’t know the exact date yet.”

I can probably count on one hand the people who will actually remember to come back to the comic book shop on that day (assuming it’s released on time) and pick up the next issue.

On the other hand, if Mr. Comic Store Owner can say, “Next Wednesday!” you’re still going to see some attrition, but far less than the vague proclamation in the previous paragraph. That’s better for the fans, better for the comic book stores, and better for the writers and artists (and editors) who just want more people to see their work.

And not only that, but if you can get fans coming back week after week for Captain America, chances are that a small number of those people will try out another title, and so on, and so on.

Of course, there’s a bunch of arguments against everything I just said:

- How’s that working out for Spider-Man? Well, sales wise just fine… Pretty good, actually, though not necessarily as gangbusters as everyone might want. The good news is, the lowest selling Amazing weekly outsells the lowest selling tertiary Spider-Man title from back before it went weekly. And well enough that Web of Spider-Man is running monthly.

- Hey, did that Obama issue play out like your hypothetical Cap #25 scenario? Er, I dunknow. That issue of Spidey was the best-selling single issue of the year, but there was no significant lasting bump to the title. However, I would argue that the Obama issue, even more than, say, a Cap #25, was picked up by collectors who didn’t even bother to read it. It was a pure sales tool, not something based on a “must-read” story. This may be me equivocating, though.

- Limited funds. This one is pretty fair… If every title went weekly, fans would have to limit funds and purchases even more than the controversial move to $3.99 has made them do. There’s just no way to purchase every comic, every week.

- Too many characters for one book. This is an Avengers specific problem. Spider-Man works because it’s focused on Spider-Man. Focus on the Avengers, and you have to potentially juggle thirty or more characters in the book, which is just too many. So you could cut down on who’s on the team, but then you also potentially limit the appeal to fans, who are pissed their favorite isn’t in the book anymore (I’m looking at you, Night Nurse). This problem is semi-easily solved by the fact that the Avengers have a tradition of rotating team members in and out on a fairly regular basis, so especially on a monthly schedule, with different writers focusing on their faves, with an ongoing soap opera of a story (like Spidey) it could work… It would just be trickier.

So, is this going to happen? I hope so, though my gut tells me, probably not. We’ll more than likely get a big guns Iron Man/Cap/Thor team book, a more street level team book, and a third book (Leftover Avengers, perhaps?). But I kind of hope they err on the weekly side.

In fact, if it works (and I think it would work), you could very slowly roll it out for the titles that could support weeklies, specifically: X-Men; Deadpool (crazy, I know, but right now he could easily support a weekly); and All-Ages, to start.

The last one, by the way, should happen immediately regardless of any of this. Kids like repetition, and the idea of taking a trip with Dad every Wednesday to pick up Marvel Adventures Super-Heroes is appealing to both kids, and their parents. You go get a burger at the diner, then go to comic shop, and then are done with your parenting duties for the week. Everybody wins!

And again, getting kids in the comics stores would sell more comics in the long run. But that’s a discussion for another time.

So what do you think, fans? What did I get wrong? What did I miss? And most importantly, do you think The Avengers should go weekly?

Just in time for the holidays! We’re excited to introduce computer keyboards and mice featuring your favorite Marvel characters! Our Keyscaper keyboards and mice will add some flair to your desk and sufficiently solidify your geek cred.

The keyboards are available in wired and wireless versions and the mice are wireless to boot! All are PC and Mac compatible and feature a super simple plug and play connection.

One of the most exciting things about these products is that they’ll be in stock on December 16th! So if you’ve been looking for the perfect holiday gift for the comic book fan in your life, look no further.

Just in case that’s not geeky enough for you, we’ve also got two styles for the Star Trek fan at TFAW.com.

These keyboards and mice will go pretty quickly, so you’ll want to get your pre-order in soon to ensure you get your choice of these great products.

What do you think of these products? Got any questions about them? Go ahead and let us know below.

DARK AVENGERS #11: Sigh. I just have a soft spot for the Molecule Man, I’m sorry guys. And I really think Bendis has hit his groove with this title, mixing his patented naturalistic dialogue with action, perfectly complemented by Mike Deodato’s moody art. Plus, in this issue, we get some painted pages by Greg Horn, and I don’t know the last time I saw interior art by the guy, but it looks great. This is a great looking comic, lots of fun, and I’m going to be a little sad to see it go (assuming it does, in fact, go after the upcoming Siege event).

DARK REIGN: THE LIST – AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: Adam Kubert draws an amazing Spider-Man (no pun intended), but I guess you wouldn’t expect anything less from the guy. First off, I’ll say its a smart move by Marvel to use Mr. Kubert on specials and short runs, rather than promising he can deliver a monthly book. That’s another win in Mr. Wacker’s column, in my book. And this book looks great. Reading wise, Dan Slott turns in another near perfect Spider-Man script, perfectly melding character moments, old-school fun, and good story. Except, and I’m going to get back on my soapbox now that we’re done with this “List” event… Basically nothing happens. In the grand scheme of things, I mean. The one List book that had a major event was The Punisher, which by all accounts was, I think, a high mark for Rick Remender, The Punisher, and Marvel in general. Not that every issue of The List needed to hold up to that standard, but I wish there was some sort of moving the story forward, that something had happened. There is a minor victory for Peter Parker towards the end of this book, and its a nice moment, but honestly, is Parker leaking a video on the internet really going to show up as a plot point in any other book?

It’s frustrating, because I would really, really like ASM: The List to be the biggest and baddest part of this mini-event, but it just can’t be, because… You can’t have Spider-Man win that big. Spidey can’t actually reveal Norman’s true villainy to the world, because that would mean Spider-Man was revealed as a world-wide hero. There’s ways around that, sure, but Spider-Man works best when everybody hates him. So he can’t win that big, he has to win, but kind of lose. And he can’t kill Norman, because he doesn’t kill. Plus, we got to save that for Siege, right? My point is, as a fan, I still think of Osbourne as Spider-Man’s villain, and I feel like Spidey needs to take him down, but given the character, and the layout of the Universe, that just can’t happen. So instead, I’m frustrated.

Anyway, great looking issue, solid read, if you want some pretty Kubert art, pick it up.

DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH #5: This title is growing on me, but veeeery slowly. Not to sound like a broken record, but considering you’ve already got Deadpool and Headpool in the book, it seems unnecessary and repetitive to even include the Deadpool double narration boxes. I’d rather just see those two bicker and be done with it. I also like how The Gisch is filling out the supporting cast with fun riffs on previous DP continuity. I’m curious to see where this goes after this arc, and hopefully, it can forge its own way, and move out of… Way’s… shadow.

INCREDIBLE HULK #604: You know that feeling when you take a deep breath and let it out, and how relaxing and refreshing that is? That’s what having Greg Pak back on the Hulk is like. A breath of fresh air, or at least air you’ve breathed before that feels fresh again. Or something. Anyway. Banner, Skaar, and Warbound vs. The Leader? What’s not to love? Pak keeps adding his own take to the Hulk mythos, and shows why he’s the best writer of the character since Peter David. Love this series, pick it up.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #31: Dan Slott and Christos Gage bring it all together to end out the best arc of this title in a good long while. Classic Avengers action, classic avengers moments, great fun shout outs and good actions pieces. My only caveat is that the art seems a little crowded, but that’s a quibble when its so much fun to just see heroes being heroes, and all working together to save the day. Fun.

NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD #3: As nice as it is to see Sean McKeever back at Marvel, working in high school (where he excels), this just isn’t grabbing me. It ain’t bad, by any means, its a well crafted comic book, but I guess I just don’t care enough about Rikki Barnes yet. Ah well.

PUNISHER #11: Tony Moore and Rick Remender working together is a-okay with me. And this Frankencastle storyline gets to an insane, over the top start, as you might expect. Love it.

REALM OF KINGS: Abnett and Lanning have one of the most complex, yet easy to follow road-maps for their cosmic books I’ve ever seen. And it all kicks off in spectacular fashion in this one shot. I thought they couldn’t take the action and danger to another level. I think I was wrong. Love these books, love the direction of them, and I love the focus that’s happening throughout. Great stuff.

REALM OF KINGS INHUMANS #1: On the other hand… There’s a killer last page to this issue, but otherwise, it’s one of the more snooze-worthy Inhumans mini-series in a while. Granted, the characters are in a place where they’re all miserable, and for the first time in a long time, they have a real status quo that can’t immediately be broken, but it feels like the backbone of this cosmic universe has moved on to Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy.

THUNDERBOLTS #138: Jeff Parker makes his debut on the title, and while I love the Parker, this won’t knock anyone’s socks off. However, he continues the feel of the past few issues well without missing a beat… I’m just looking forward to him maybe blazing his own path. And maybe bringing in a few A-Listers. It feels like this title needs a new mission statement, and soon.

WAR MACHINE #11: The little title that could keeps chugging along, and though I THINK it’s canceled already, Greg Pak has made a fascinating uber story that has done a lot to build up Rhodey’s character, and define his supporting cast. It’s too bad this won’t be around in the long term, because in Year Two, it feels like it could have gotten quite good.

WOLVERINE WEAPON X #7: I’m totally loving this storyline, with Logan caught in the world’s most disturbing lunatic asylum, scared and fighting for his life. Sure, it’s not the most original story of all time (it’s been done in Buffy, for one), but I’m completely caught up in the mystery, and can’t wait to find out how Wolvie ended up there. Kudos to Jason Aaron for turning in another solid arc.

X-MEN LEGACY #229: Speaking of little engines, I still don’t get what this title is about (other than secretly The New Adventures of Rogue and Gambit), but Mike Carey, as always, chugs right along with a solid story that pays tribute to Generation X, one of the much beloved, much forgotten pieces of X-history past.

The real champ this week was Spider-Man, who managed to star in both my favorite and least favorite books in the pull.

So we can end on a positive note, let’s talk about the stinker first. Spider-Man: Clone Saga #1 kicks off a six-part retelling of the original Spider-Man disasterpiece. Long before Peter Parker was an organic-web-having spider totem, Norman Osbourne making evil secret Euro-bastards with Gwen Stacy, and Mary Jane was showing sympathy for the devil, Marvel Editorial was trying to ruin your friendly neighborhood hero. The original clone saga was an intriguing concept–resurrect an old plotline where Spidey was cloned by the Jackyl, with the clone come back claiming to be the real thing–but everyone involved lost control of it. Anyone following–or, let’s be honest, trying to follow–the story in its initial offering assumed that the creators had an ending in mind, that there was some sort of guiding vision driving the narrative…but as the legend goes, whatever ending had been pitched (if any true ending had ever really been pitched) was thrown out the window by editors trying to squeeze as much cash from the convolution as they could. A few issues of clever storytelling with an unexpected twist ending would have been fine, but we got a sloppy epic built around new characters, tossed out continuity, confusion over controversy, and a non-ending that took too long to arrive at and pretty much negated the whole experience. The mess was ultimately a frustrating uneventful event. Marvel had a great opportunity to revisit past mistakes when it launched the Ultimate line of comics–and Ultimate Spider-Man writer Brian Bendis definitely managed to reimagine the clone saga in a way that was convincing and entertaining and satisfying to Spider-fans. Bendis made it work.

So why does Marvel think we need yet another revisionist take on a bad storyline, only this time with no chance for a happy (different) ending? Bendis had the freedom of a new continuity, an alternate-universe Spider-Man, and the ability to change both the journey and the destination. The creators behind this new apologist version of the clone saga may have figured out a way to clean up the path, but it is still going to lead to the same place. Do we need this comic? Did anyone ask for it? I’d much rather see Steve Wacker and the Amazing Spider-Men take their crack at cleaning up this old mess. And they’d have ever right to want to make sense out of how the Scarlet Spider Ben Reilly, Kaine, and MJ’s pregnancy scare fit into the post-One More Day continuity. I don’t want to know how the clone saga was “originally meant to be told.” I want to know how it fits today.

Wacker’s crew of weekly Spidey creators are doing fine work tugging on old plot threads in Amazing Spider-Man, with #607 winning me over for favorite book of the pull. Because I’m overdue for a corny plun, let’s just say that Joe Kelly and Mike McKone’s Black Cat really purrs, making the best argument for why Marvel Editorial felt a need to abolish the Peter/MJ nuptuals. When it comes to male power fantasies, there’s nothing quite like a little guilt-free costumed shagging between villain fights. I can take or leave Peter Parker’s love life dramatics, and I would have preferred a simple divorce plot to write him out of the MJ marriage…but now that “Brand New Day” MJ is back in Parker’s life and he is torn between rekindling a spark with her, moving on to one of the all-new all-different ladies in his supporting cast, or just petting the kitty in a no-strings-attached fling with Black Cat. This two-part Black Cat arc has finally bumped me off the fence on this series. ASM has become a romantic comedy with face kicks and explosions–and I like it.        

You may recall from earlier in the week, I loved me some Giant Sized Old Man Logan. I even went so far as to suggest that the mini-series could be the best–or at least my favorite–comic of the year.

But then I read the rest of my weekly pull, and remembered just how good Greg Rucka and JH Williams’ run on the Batwoman-centric Detective Comics has been. The previous issue wasn’t as good as their stunning first issue, but this latest–issue #857–was great. Stellar art, excellent action, and a tense, tight plot involving weapons of mass destruction, jumping from planes, rapid-fire character development, and plenty of face kicking. I still couldn’t care less about the Question backup story, though, which I suppose could be considered a knock against the book as a whole.

Another comic contending for book of the year is Fantastic Four, which I started reading again this year for Old Man Logan-mastermind Mark Millar’s run, but I’m definitely staying for the Hickman. New writer Jonathan Hickman (along with artist Dale Eaglesham) has actually one-upped Millar’s think big, then go bigger approach to the FF with what has so far been a great ride, with a focus on Reed Richards learning that maybe there is such a thing as doing too much good. or maybe just too many Reeds doing all the good.

We can’t forget Marvel Zombies Return–yet another good time that I’m having with a mini, and this one is weekly! I won’t pretend this book is in contention with any of the above for “best of the year,” but it has been a blast. True to it’s name, it is a definite return to the twisted fun of the original Marvel Zombies series.

I loved Amazing Spider-Man #606, too. I know for some it may feel like the creators are just repeating beats from old Spidey continuity, which might be considered a step back. But I missed the boat on the original Spidey/Black Cat episodes from back in the day, but I’ve always liked the idea of that relationship, enjoyed the way it was recently reimagined in the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, and welcome it back to the comic proper. Black Cat has a fun personality to read and, as far as drawings go, she’s not too hard to look at either. It’s also worth noting that Mike McKone’s artwork in this issue is right up there with the rest of my favorites for the week.

Speaking of great artists and spider-themed spandex, I picked up the print version of the Brian Bendis/Alex Maleev Spider-Woman on a whim. See, I tried watching the motion comic version–which was the whole big deal about this comic in the first place (it was  written and layed out specifically with the motion comic platform in mind), and I didn’t like it. I couldn’t get through more than a minute of the motion version…something about the slow pace and the not-what-I-expected voice acting turned me off right away. I guess I just like my comics on paper, though, because reading it the way comics were meant to be read left me liking the book just fine. I’m a fan of Bendis, even if all his characters sound the same and all his books are decompressed. I’m an even bigger fan of Bendis when he’s writing for Alex Maleev, who manages to compliment the scripted mood, character beats, and bursts of action so well. I’m willing to stick around for a few issues just to enjoy the creative collaboration, even if I don’t know that I particularly care all that much about story they’re telling.

I also don’t care all that much about the plight of the Marvel mutant,these days, but I do think Matt Fraction is, at the very least, writing the best Cyclops I’ve read in a while. Uncanny X-Men has been on the cusp of droppage for a while, but there’s always some clever twist or strong character moment that tricks me into caring just enough to come back the next month. Fraction’s Cyclops won me over for at least one more issue.

Robert Kirkman will get me back for another issue, too, for Invincible, but this week’s issue #66–focusing on Invincible’s dad spilling secrets about the dwindling Viltrumite empire to Allen the Alien–was all exposition and quite dull. It’s all big important information that will be relevant later (you know, when characters get back to punching faces off), but the issue felt like a space filler.

And speaking of space fillers…what happened to my one-time favorite comic–Mike Allred’s Madman?! I picked up issue #17, which I think is the last issue of the current series, before some sort of relaunch I absolutely will not buy. What a self-indulgent load of boring, unentertaining blecch. The art is beautiful and playful and quirky as always, but it’s the writing that kills it for me. I am so happy Allred has taken to doing more work-for-hire art in the Marvel and DC Universes, because either I grew out of Madman or the book has just gotten dumb. I guess if you read it as a lost chapter to Red Rocket 7–rather than a relevant or representative part of the usually adorably awesome Frank Einstein’s–you might not hate it as much as I did…but I didn’t like RR7 all that much either. C’est la vie.

That’s all for this we…Oh, I almost forgot–New Avengers #57. The fact that I forgot it, even though it is in the stack of books I keep looking over at as I write this, doesn’t reflect well on it, but I promise, I didn’t dislike it. But it was only an okay read. Despite a ton of characters, good and evil, getting all sorts of sreentime (pagetime?), and assorted subplots related to Dark Reign threading through this book each month, not all that much of anything ever happens in this series. It is the worst example of Bendis’ bad habit for decompressed storytelling. Stuart Immonen is a welcome addition to the creative team, illustrating Bendis’ ongoing epic about the kitchen table in Bucky Barnes’ safehouse/Avenger’s HQ. If I were pinching pennies, this would definitely be another very droppable book, simply because it feels like it goes nowhere each issue, no matter how good (or okay) each issue is. 

That is all for my week in comics. How was yours?

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #606: The Black Cat returns! This isn’t a spoiler, because it’s in an ad in every Marvel comic. And, you know, the cover. Anywho. I’m kind of getting repetitious with beating the “Spider-Man is as fun as it has ever been” drum, so here’s one particular aspect of this issue I found surprising in a negative way: it felt like a big step backwards for the Black Cat. Not that I don’t love the her and Spidey romance issues (creepy roof-sex aside), but she’s grown a LOT as a character in the intervening years, and doesn’t really deserve to find herself back with Spidey, yet again. Yeah, weird, I know. Other than that, relatively fun issue, but also a slight step down from the creepiness of Van Lente’s excellent Chameleon arc, and the gang-busters over-sized #605.

ANITA BLAKE, THE LAUGHING CORPSE – NECROMANCER #5: This preview had, without a doubt, the longest file name I’ve ever seen.

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #28: Though this series continues to be good, it’s suffering from what a lot of books get after the main purpose, and the main creative team move on… This used to be the backbone of the Marvel U, and I used to recommend it to anyone who wanted to know what was going on in Marvel comics. It was a great refresher, good character stories, and great art, issue after issue. It still has most of that, but it’s no longer the backbone, it’s more of a, I don’t know, what’s an unimportant bone? The skull? Well, anyway, the series is still reflective of what’s happening in the Universe at large, but it no longer seems to be effecting it. I’m curious to see whether this title will stick around in the long run.

DARK REIGN: THE LIST – X-MEN ONE-SHOT: As a gigantic fan of John Byrne’s work on Alpha Flight and the Fantastic Four, there’s a page in here that absolutely killed me and ripped my heart out like nothing else I’ve read this week. Beyond that, Matt Fraction turns in a reliably solid story directly following off the Utopia cross-over, and though I usually swoon over Alan Davis’ work, this was not my favorite issue he’s ever done. And in the larger view, I’m finding that this List event, while a solid series of comics, is not really delivering the lasting change that was promised. Like most of Norman Osborn’s projects, its all spin.

DARK X-MEN: THE CONFESSION ONE-SHOT: I would contend that this issue goes in the exact opposite direction of what you’d expect to happen. I’d also contend that maybe this is a good thing. And for those of you expecting big action, well… It’s called the Confession, not the Explosion. Nice one, Zalben.

ENDER’S SHADOW: COMMAND SCHOOL #1: All of these series so far are very, very good, but the books about Bean are a step above. I wouldn’t say this issue is necessarily a good jumping on point, but both of the Command School books are far more focused than the Battle School books. Makes me want to read the actual novels, and that’s a compliment.

FANTASTIC FORCE #4: Two points about this: 1) I wonder if, in Hickman’s book, when Ben and Johnny visit Nu-Earth, this series will be referenced at all, and 2) Last page has the most ridiculous, over the top thing Wolverine has ever done in the entire history of published Wolverine comics. This is not hyperbole.

FANTASTIC FOUR #571: The promise of last issue’s final page is fulfilled, if not in full, then at least in satisfying fashion. Plus! Though we’re pretty much focused on Reed(s), everybody else’s dialogue reads far more smoothly than it did last issue. Also! I’m really starting to think this series is not taking place in our main universe. Not going to say why, just my pet theory. Prove me wrong, Hickman. Prove me wrong. Or prove me right, either way is fine.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #18: Every single time I get sent an issue of this, I think Marvel has started publishing Gargamel comics, but that’s probably only weird to me (they abbreviate its title as “GARGAL”). And I know you’re all interested in file names, but on to the review of the issue: this series is darn good and fun. This issue, in particular, reminds me of a certain Bill Murray movie (if you said “Operation: Dumbo Drop,” you would be wrong), and is much lighter than the last issue in tone and execution. And I’m curious, more than anything, to see what the long game here is, and how it will play out. That’s enough to keep me on for the long haul.

IMMORTAL WEAPONS #3: The best thing about this series is that each issue has its own look and feel to it, as each one focuses on a different Immortal Weapon (hence, you know, the title). While this is my least favorite of the three so far, that still means its heads and tails above most comics, and Iron Fist fans should be picking this for Duane Swierczynski’s back-ups alone.

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #135: Every issue of this series is a fabulous adventure that deserves to be collected and read over and over. When people ask what the best comics of the first decade of the century were, they’ll fondly recall Pak and Van Lente’s classic run on Incredible Hercules. If you’re not reading it, you might as well give up reading comics. This is also not hyperbole.

INCREDIBLE HULK #602: People have been saying my critical faculties towards Hulk comics have been compromised since I wrote Hulk Team-Up (still on sale at comic book stores everywhere!). But if that were true, would I say that Incredible Hulk is back, and as good as it’s ever been? That the pairing of a de-powered Banner, and a finally starting to have fun Skaar is enjoyable, high action, smart comics? I mean yeah, I guess I would. But that doesn’t make it any less true.

MS. MARVEL #45: This arc may have gone on about one issue too long (it’s starting to feel a leeeeetle flabby), but damn if Brian Reed hasn’t taken Ms. Marvel to a new level, breaking the character down and making her completely unique and worthwhile.

NEW AVENGERS #57: Okay, remember earlier when I was complaining about things not mattering in Avengers books? This matters, for one character in particular, and the Marvel U at large. One of Bendis’ tightest, punchiest arcs on the book so far, full of fun moments, danger, and great character work.

NOVA #29: This issue is an ever-so-slight comedown from the great War of Kings tie-ins, but if you’re looking for old school comics at their best, look no further. I’ve never been a fan of the cosmic stuff, but I’m a fan of good comics, and Abnett and Lanning have made a believer out of me.

SPIDER-WOMAN #1: That’s weird… This motion comic barely moved at all.

UNCANNY X-MEN #515: A great character issue for Cyclops fans, showing probably the most realistic reaction to a big event I’ve ever read in a comic in a while. Also, a killer last page, but then, we all knew it was coming. Right?

WOLVERINE FIRST CLASS #19: “Wah, wah, wah. Comics are expensive. Wah, wah, wah. I can’t buy comics without having to buy a thousand other comics to understand what’s going on, so I won’t buy comics. Sniff, sniff. Everything is so dark, why aren’t comics fun anymore?” Hey crybaby: Wolverine First Class is an easily accessible, super fun comic book series for readers of comics new or old. This one comes with a fabulous Skottie Young cover, and only cost $2.99. Peter David writes (you like him, right?), and Dennis Calero draws (you DEFINITELY like him, right?). Game, set, and match, a-hole.

WOLVERINE ORIGINS #40: I really, really hope that this Romulus stuff pays off by revealing the mastermind behind everything is Remus, King of the Bird-People. But then, that’s only one of the many reasons I’m not writing Wolverine Origins.

WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN GIANT-SIZE #1: Goatse cover aside, this is a fun, big action conclusion to Millar and McNiven’s run on the title. And I’m going to reiterate what I’ve been saying all along: this is going to be a fabulous collection. Each individual issue, this one included, is like a light snack, with pretty much one major action beat per comic. But read as a trade, it’ll be a full, satisfying meal. McNiven’s pencils are cinematic, as always, and Millar writes cheeky action scenes like no one else. There’s one totally unnecessary Millar perversion in this issue, which must have seemed very funny at the time, but plays as just plain crass; though that shouldn’t stop you from picking this up. What might stop you is the back half of the issue, which is just a bunch of covers from the series, that, presumably, you already purchased. At $5 for an (albeit, over-sized) story, to throw in 20 pages of bonus material that will most likely appear in the upcoming trade collection is just a wee bit unfortunate.

You may not know this, but DC is experimenting with running back-up stories featuring B-list characters who don’t have a book of their own. It’s all an initiative to make the recent price jump to $3.99 an issue more worth it to readers. I’ll take an in-continuity scene by an A-list team and starring an A-list character over that, thank you very much.

So, having pretty much never looked back at the movie since walking out of the theater a few years back with my nerdy heart broken by it’s suckiness, I sat back on the couch and hoped for the best. And you know what? It’s a pitch-perfect Spider-Man movie…for about 40 minutes. The Peter/MJ dynamic established in the previous two films is there, recurring characters like Aunt May and Harry Osbourne pick up where they left off, and new characters–Eddie Brock, in particular–step into the mix convincingly. The J. Jonah Jameson-driven plot driver pitting dueling Daily Bugle photogs Parker and Brock against each other to get a shot of Spider-Man showing his “true colors” as a villain, with a staff job as the prize, is right out of the comics, and the tongue-in-cheek tone of the setup translates well to live action. It’s fun and hokey and, considering the context, believable. The Sandman origin is also handled really well. I like the way he looks in the movie and I like the way the role is acted. Surprisingly, the action and conflict surrounding Harry Osbourne as “Goblin Jr” is probably the most satisfying part of the movie for me, in that it actually follows through on threads from parts 1 and 2 and, despite some cosmetic changes from what happens to Harry in the funny pages, feels like a true adaptation of Harry’s ongoing comic story–right down to the coma, bouts of memory loss, and “dying.” I think a lot of people dismissed the Harry stuff because they didn’t like the idea of changing “Green Goblin 2″ into a hover-boarding, bomb-throwing extreme sports caricature. In retrospect, it’s a pretty cool character design and a nice step forward from the Power Ranger-esque Green Goblin in part 1. Without changing all that much, Harry becomes something new for the Spideyverse and, given how things play out in the movie, the kind of slick anti-hero who nearly outshines the hero hero of the piece.

But nobody went to see Spider-Man 3 for Sandman or Harry.

No, Spider-Man 3 was all about Venom–the alien symbiote that latches onto Peter Parker and, in the comics, became an evil, brain-eating perversion of everything Spider-Man stood for. In the comics, Spidey “becomes” Venom in a sense, before Venom becomes his own being, wearing the black alien as a costume while adventuring on another world in a comic plot far too convoluted to translate to film. But seeds had been planted by the filmmakers, so there wouldn’t be much trouble altering the origins of the alien in order to bring Venom to movie Spidey’s Earth in an exciting but sensible way.

As you’ll recall, in Spider-Man 2, Parker’s girlfriend MJ was engaged to marry astronaut John Jameson, but she left the poor sap at the alter to be with her web-headed honey. So, when John Jameson went off on his next space adventure, his heart was filled with anger toward MJ and Parker, and this anger drew the alien symbiote to him. A little far-fetched, but still logical within the context of a movie about a guy in tights fighting crime with the proportionate strength and agility of a spider. So, one thing leads to another, and Jameson returns to earth with the alien in tow, feeding off of his anger, and fueling his aggressive urges toward Parker and MJ. This gives him a reason to bring the symbiote into contact with Parker, allowing the rest of the Venom origin to unfold as it did in the comics, and allowing MJ to redeem herself from her runaway bride routine in part 2 by at least suffering some consequences in part 3, a common thread tying the sequels together toward a fulfilling conclusion.

I’m sorry, what is that? The alien just falls out of the sky? The symbiote just happens to come into contact with Spidey because Parker…steps on it? MJ’s jilted ex doesn’t even get mentioned again?

Oh yeah, right. And that’s why this movie sucks. An unlikable love interest who makes the protagonist fawning all over her unlikable by extension, a major villain generated from some random space junk, and not even the slightest attempt to resolve a pretty major character-defining act from the previous film.

Also, about 40 minutes into the flick, we find out that (in the movies, at least) Sandman killed Spidey’s Uncle Ben. So, not only are we going to ignore that whole “leaving a good man at the altar” bit from part 2, we’re also going to reach back to part 1 and change the tried-and-true origin story that has suited Spidey for decades and across mediums…just to add an unnecessary dramatic twist to the B-villain subplot?

Why don’t they just add a dance number, while they’re at it?! (They did.)

Needless to say, my viewing experience fell apart fairly quickly. And the thing about already knowing how the movie ended? Well, it gave me license to do the only sensible thing–turn the crap off early.

But fear not, true believers! I was able to cleanse my palate with an episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, which happened to be sitting in my DVR queue and featured an infinitely more satisfying take on Venom. If there’s any moral to this story, I guess it’s that anyone looking for a live-action Spidey fix is better off settling for the far more intelligent cartoon on Disney XD.

Think about it this way:

- Ben Parker was in high school with May Reilly. Unless one of them skipped a grade or two, or was left back, we can assume they were approximately the same age; or, at least, in the same four year range as each other.

- Richard Parker, Ben’s brother, is described as being “many years younger” than Ben.

- Peter Parker is only a few months old when Richard and Mary, his parents, are killed in a plane crash.

- Peter is a teenager in high school when he becomes Spider-Man.

The big variable here is, how many years younger is “many years younger?” While there’s, of course, no way of determining exactly how many, let’s take a look here:

- Chances are, Richard and Mary had Peter in their early twenties, given the time period. People just didn’t really have babies in their thirties when Spider-Man was launched.

- Add 16 years to that (a middle point for how old Peter is when he became Spider-Man), and his parents, if they survived, would most likely be mid-to-late-thirties.

- Ben Parker is many years older than Richard, and looks to be easily in his sixties or seventies. This makes Ben about 30-40 years older than Richard.

- But, that’s impossible, right? We’ve already explained that people just didn’t have babies in their thirties back then due to health factors. Even if Peter Parker’s grandmother had Ben at 16, that would mean she was at least 46 when she had Richard… So probably not.

- It’s far more likely that many years meant 5-10 years, so Ben was had at a very young age (16), and then Richard at about 10 years after that (26).

- Meaning, if Richard was about 25 when Peter was born, Ben was only about 35.

- …And in the first issue of Spider-Man, Ben was 51. Approximately.

- Assuming Aunt May had the exact same birthday as Uncle Ben, she was also approx. 51 when Peter became Spider-Man.

- Additionally, only about 5-10 years have passed in Spider-Man continuity, meaning Aunt May is, maximum, 61.

There is only one conclusion: Aunt May has that disease from Jack.

Side note: During my cursory research, I was reminded of this issue of Marvel Team-Up, one of my favorite comics of all time, where Aunt May becomes Goldie, the herald of Galactus. The only thing that can sate his hunger? Fruit pies. It was during Assistant Editor’s Month, natch:

Spidey himself has not yet been cast. Alan Cumming will play villain Norman Osborn. Production is scheduled to begin previews on February 25, 2010.

10 books reviewed:
Amazing Spider-Man #595 (BUY IT)
Amazing Spider-Man: The Short Halloween (BUY IT)
Dark Reign – The Hood #1 (BUY IT)
New Avengers #53 (BUY IT)
Final Crisis Aftermath – Ink #1 (BUY IT)
Ms. Marvel #39 (DON’T BOTHER)
Batman in Barcelona: Dragon’s Knight (SPLIT VERDICT)
Superman #688 (SPLIT VERDICT)
Teen Titans #71 (SPLIT VERDICT)
Justice League of America #33 (DON’T BOTHER)

Agree? Disagree? Think we don’t know what the heck we’re talking about? Leave your comments below!

And if you think we your feedback doesn’t matter, you’re wrong — last time out everyone begged us to stop putting the intro in between every segment and we listened — thank God!

Special thanks to Midtown Comics for providing Jon’s books for review.

I’m in the middle of a writing project concerning Spider-Man. I’m reading every issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, writing a short essay, and having a discussion forum about it. I’m trying to read between the lines, and draw points of cultural relevance from the comic books. Basically, I’m reading way too much into Spider-Man.

So far he’s only reviewed about seven issues, but head on over to his blog and encourage him to keep going. This is a fun, smart project, and I’d love to see him make it all the way to the end.

Oh, and Sean, if you add in every issue of Web of Spider-Man, you’ll have me as an even bigger fan.

Please note: the guy holding multiple copies is a Midtown employee playing hype man. Midtown had a strict 1 COPY PER PERSON policy. I had to reiterate this in numerous over the past week — which I tried to lighten by saying “Even if Obama himself shows up, he can only get 1 copy”, probably to no effect.

Beyond the fact that Marvel didn’t print anywhere near enough copies for the demand, there are a couple other things that strike me as crazy about this whole media circus:

1) Obama only appears in the five page back-up.

2) OBAMA DOES NOT EVEN LOOK LIKE OBAMA. I realize this was probably a last minute idea on Marvel’s part — and a fairly brilliant one at that — but could they not find someone who could do 5 pages AND draw Obama?? Sorry Todd Nauck, but that is NOT cutting it. This is one time when it would’ve been better to have somebody do severe photo-referencing or even Greg Land style tracing. I mean, now you’re gonna have tons of casual fans pick the book up and see this unrecognizable Barack Obama. I’d be embarrassed.

3) The first guy in line was apparently there at 6AM! And it was probably like under 20 degrees at that time!

Also FYI, the 2nd printing will be available January 21st.

“I like it in the Marvel comics when Spider-Man fights Morbius,” said Raimi. “He’s really cool. A vampire! I like that combination of superhero plus supernatural.”

So let’s talk about this… Obviously, Empire is actually a reputable source that probably did talk to Sam Raimi. However, since I can’t find the article on Empire’s website, I can’t tell you what the context was. Did an interviewer say, “Do you want Morbius in Spider-Man 4?” or “What do you think of Morbius?” Was Raimi joking? Or maybe it’s an old quote that just snuck its way back into the ether.

I’d also like to point out that after Empire, the original source is MTV’s excellent Splash Page, which titled their article:

‘Spider-Man 4’ Villain Might Be ‘Morbius The Living Vampire,’ Director Sam Raimi Hints

By later in the day, on sites like the also excellent /Film, the title had become:

Sam Raimi Wants Morbius in Spider-Man 4

Which is obviously a huge leap already. I assume by the time it hit Hello! Magazine, it had turned into:

Director Sam Raimi to Marry Lindsay Lohan

But I digress. Let’s assume for a moment that a reporter asked Raimi about villains for Spider-Man 4, Raimi honestly answered, and wants Morbius, the Living Vampire in his big budget action spectacular. Certainly, this would fit into Raimi’s fetish for smaller, more complex villains. And, as has been pointed out elsewhere, despite his supernatural trappings, Morbius is a science villain, having turned himself into a blood-sucker with the aid of secret formula (nineteen herbs and spices, I hear).

So in that sense, yes, Morbius does fit into the Spidey movie universe. And, lest we forget, Raimi also loves horror, the supernatural, and cheese-ball villains.

That leads us to the conclusion that it is entirely possible Raimi might like the idea of Morbius in a Spider-Man movie. But at the end of the day, it will never, ever happen. Sony desperately needs Spider-Man. With Bond, it’s the only good thing it has going. Despite the gigantic box office for Spider-Man 3, Raimi effed up, and they all know it*.

It comes down to this: Sony is not going to risk the safety of their company on a movie that could essentially be called Spider-Man vs. Vampires. They’ll be laughed out of Hollywood.

Last but not least, remember that Spider-Man 4 and 5 are a two part story. Does Morbius sound like someone you’d want to spend two movies with? No.

I’m calling BS on this rumor, it has all the makings of Raimi just casually answering a question to a reporter. If I’m wrong, though… Nah, I’m not wrong.

*Side-Note: I really liked Spider-Man 3, and think its flaws are well outweighed by its strong points; but I realize I’m in the minority here.