HeroDistrict

Marvel has said for quite a while that all of it’s recent events have been building to something big, and here it is: Avengers vs. The X-Men. Wow.  Two of the biggest brands in comics are going to have an all out slugfest lasting an epic twelve issues.  All of Marvel’s big writers are having a part of this, and in terms of scale this could be one of the biggest stories we’ve seen since in years.

An even bigger story than when Fantomex went up Blob’s butt.

What are the basics?  The Phoenix is coming back, and the two teams find each with differing opinions on how to deal with it. We already saw the nasty cosmic entity wipe out a planet back in Marvel “Point One” issue. Clearly the mutant messiah Hope will be involved, and the huge Schism that sundered the X-Men into two groups will have an impact. Another key player will be the cosmic hero Nova, although we don’t know if this is a new character wearing the mantle or the classic Richard Ryder. Cable’s return is basic the prelude to the event, and we’re going to see the Scarlet Witch return to center stage.

This isn’t the first time the two teams have clashed.  Their first crossover was back in the late 80’s, but it was a relatively small skirmish compared to this. There was also a crossover with the Dark Avengers, but you can’t exactly call that team of villains heroes by any stretch.

Guess what? Time for you to pick a side. We don’t know what each team will stand for, but does that even matter? For me, this is easy. Avengers all the way. Those whiney little X-Men don’t stand a chance.

Unless Cyclops drowns the Avengers with his tears.

I will admit, I wasn’t terribly pumped up for The Dark Knight Rises. Of course I loved the Dark Knight and knew the third installment would be amazing, but I just couldn’t get into it yet. That’s changed with the start of the new viral marketing campaign and all new information about the film, not to mention this sweet new poster.

It turns out The Dark Knight Rises is actually just a slideshow of movie posters.

If we could give a movie awards just for having unbelievable posters, TDKR would win every one of them from now until forever. Bane is looking like the perfect choice for villain, and there is a pretty decent chance he might actually destroy our hero and Gotham with him. I honestly wouldn’t put it past Nolan. I don’t think anyone expected Nolan to top the Dark Knight, but the man is sure as hell doing everything in his power to try. And I think he just might do it.

An awesome collection of superhero paint splatter art that every comic geek will enjoy. The digital print collection was created by a French web designer Arian Noveir. You can purchase Noveir’s superhero prints at Society 6 as well as some of his other creations and check out his gallery at DeviantArt. I love the Superman, Hellboy and Hulk prints – might treat myself to a Christmas present, haven’t done that in years.

[via Onelargeprawn]

Some sad news hit the comic book world today. Jerry Robinson, creator of Batman villain Joker, died at 89. Besides being the creator of one of the most iconic super villains of all time, Robinson was also very active in the comic convention circuit. I actually saw him briefly at San Diego Comic Con this past summer, where he was selling sketches of Joker and chatting with fans in artist alley. He was a fun guy to talk to and I definitely regret not getting one of his sketches. Amazingly enough, creating Joker wasn’t even Robinson’s greatest work. That would be his dedication to protecting the rights of his fellow comic creators, most notably by standing up against DC in defending Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel’s rights to Superman. He was a great man and the perfect reminder of why the golden age of comics was just that.

Lance Briggs is a beastly linebacker in the NFL. He spends his days making running backs hate their chosen professions. He also happens to be a huge comic book fan, and even has his own comic devoted website, Lance’s Comic World. That is ridiculously awesome. It is pretty much impossible to not want to hang out with Lance Briggs after reading that. Much like a great comic book, this story gets even better as it goes on. Lance Briggs has actually created his own comic book for Top Cow Productions!

Behold the glory!

Briggs’s comic, Seraph, is actually part of a contest that Top Cow is holding to discover their next great comic book. You can download and vote for Seraph here. I read it already, and it is actually quite entertaining. I’d say that Briggs has an actual chance at having his comic picked up by one of the larger independent comic companies whether Top Cow takes it or not. The writing is good, and the art isn’t too shabby either. It looks like this Bears linebacker could be carving out his next career for when his gridiron days are over.

This is one comic book nerd that probably wasn’t picked on much.

How many people remember Beast Wars? I was reminded of that series a week or so ago when I was sorting through a box of comics with a friend and we came across some IDW Beast Wars comics. For those unfamiliar with this awesomeness, Beast Wars was a Transformers series where all the robots turned into animals instead of vehicles. Optimus Prime became the gorilla, Optimus Primal and Megatron remained Megatron and turned into a badass tyrannosaurus rex. I need to pick that figure up. Megatron always seems to have the coolest vehicle/animal modes. Anyways, my nostalgia led me to pick up some Beast Wars figures, one of which is Drill Bit, the Predacon bore weevil Transformer. Check out my review of this figure below:

Nicolas Cage is almost as big a fan of comics as he is of terrible haircuts and spending ridiculous amounts of money. Unfortunately his latter habit has necessitated the sale of his impressive comic book collection. He has previously put up some great issues, like Avengers #1, but he just set all sorts of records with his latest sale. Nicolas Cage’s copy of Action Comics #1 just sold for $2.1 million. That’s a hefty chunk of change for you or me, or a one night eBay shopping spree for Cage.

This comic is worth more than everything I own. I want it.

It is awesome to see how valuable comics are getting these days, but at the same time this sale is disappointing. Everybody knows Nicolas Cage loves comics enough to take Luke Cage’s last name as his own, and it is always sad to see a collector forced to part ways with their prized possessions. Then again, it could be considered karma for making movies like Bangkok Dangerous. The part about this that really upsets me is that I don’t see myself having $2.1 million to spend on Action Comics #1, the holy grail of superhero comics. Guess I just need to start losing my mind and starring in every random movie I can while taking a comic book character’s last name. I think I’ll go by Jordan Odinson from now on.

Hey, ladies.

There have been some truly iconic comic book covers over the years. They have stood the test of time on their own, but Kerry Callen decided that they could be spiced up a little. The creator of Halo and Sprocket, a comic you should definitely check out, decided that he could make these covers even better by animating them. He created some simple .gifs out of comics that are amazing. Go to his blog right now and see drunk Tony Stark with the shakes! We’ll wait here until you get back.

It has always been Callen’s dream to drown Spider-Man.

Welcome back! Hopefully Callen will create more covers like these, because I could stare at them for hours. What other covers would look good with this animation treatment? I think the classic cover of Superman #204 by Jim Lee could use some subtle cape movement to reach perfection. What covers would you like to see Kerry Callen create in the future?

It’s either wind blowing the cape or Superman scratching his butt. Either one would be good.