Pirate website Htmlcomics.com closes it’s door with a little help from it’s friends…all of them.The site was hosting thousands of illegally scanned comics for from every major distributor.I know there’s a lot of questions regarding the sudden shutting downing of the site. Like when will it be back and where will I get my books from now? Just leave your name, address and IP in the comments and I’ll make sure the FBI gets back to you ASAP with an answer.
Whether you’re new or old to comic books, this Saturday is a chance to get FREE comics. Seriously who doesn’t like free stuff? If you want to see if your comic book store is participating, head over to FreeComicBookDay.com and type your zip code into the handy locator to find a participating retailer near you.
Some highlights of free issues include: Doctor Solar/Magnus, War of the Supermen, Iron Man/Thor, Toy Story, Irredeemable, DC Kids,The Tick, Green Hornet, Artifacts: First Look and several others.
Spinning out of the pages of Brightest Day, Deathstroke leads a team of “Titans” turned assassins that are hired to kill Ryan Choi aka The Atom. The group consists of: Deathstroke, The Tattoo Man, Cheshire, Sun Girl, and the recently resurrected Osiris. The addition of Osiris to the team, makes this line up even more bizarre. Osiris is one of the featured twelve that were resurrected in Blackest Night.
Some Titans fans are upset by the book. Over at DC’s own message board, several fans have already started boycotting the title. The feeling is that the Titans are heroes, never villains. Other fans have pointed out the fact that other than Deathstroke and Osiris briefly, the team has no real tie to the Titans. Seems more like a marketing ploy then an actual Titans tie-in.
Hitting comic shelves this July from Marvel, comes Shadowland: Battle For The Soul of New York. Written by Andy Diggle (Losers) the current writer of Daredevil and drawn by Billy Tan (Darkness). The story focuses around the Shadowland, which is a prison/temple built on the aftermath in Hell’s Kitchen from Bullseye during Dark Reign.
The five issue series will take place in part with Daredevil #507-511, and will focus on Daredevil’s newfound roll as the leader of the Hand. Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, has eliminated crime in Hell’s Kitchen but using the international ninja crime group as a “force of justice.” Members of the super-human community get themselves involved and Daredevil finds unlikely allies and enemies as he crosses lines he’s never been forced to cross before. Marvel guarantees the story will change the way Daredevil is look upon in the Marvel Universe.
On Friday, March 19th, Oni Press announced the title and release date to the final chapter of the Scott Pilgrim series. Entitled Finest Hour the final chapter is sure to wrap up Bryan Lee O’Malley’s story six years in the making. The release date is July 20, just one day before the start of San Diego Comic Con. I would look for this book to be a strong second week seller due to that fact, since most readers will probably be at the Con. Also at the Con will by Bryan Lee O’Malley, on hand to sign copies. O’Malley has said that this will be the best Scott Pilgrim ever, which is a bold statement to make before the books release. The book will be hitting comic shops and book stores at the same time, perhaps explaining the Tuesday release. I for one am really looking forward to this issue and secretly hope that Scott ends up as the newest evil boyfriend.
IDW Publishing (Ideas & Design Works), has joined the ranks of Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse Comics, in becoming a Premier publisher. From Diamond’s site, “
IDW and Diamond have signed a new mulit-year agreement with fresh incentives.” They become the first publisher since 1996 to be added to the Premier club. What does this all mean for the readers? Nothing right away. It has potential for IDW to make more money on their own books. That in turn would produce more revenue to create new books. This is however more of a, “down the line” scenario. The immediate changes will be that the publisher will enjoy being moved to the front of Previews, the monthly catalog listing up-coming comic releases.In the upcoming X-Force #26, Marvel is going to kill an X-Man to save the world… How nice. According to the ghostly image, one of the following X-Men under the sheet is dead. But which one? Well lets break it down. From left to right we have: Colossus, a woman with no distinguishable features to make her stand out, Iceman, Angel, Emma Frost, Nightcrawler and Cable.
Having directed Layer Cake, Stardust and Kick-Ass there is no wonder why Matthew Vaughn is considered one of the hottest talents around. He is now wanted by Jonathan Ross to direct an adaptation of his comic-book miniseries Turf.
Jonathan Ross is best known as a television and radio presenter in the UK, having presented many of the BBC’s flagship shows, like the popular Friday night talk show, the Film Programme and hosting the late morning radio slot on Britain’s most popular radio station on Saturday. But he is now famous as the man burning all his bridges with the BBC after the infamous Sachsgate affair.
Another Marvel announcement from C2E2 (Chicago’s Comic & Entertainment Expo), Christos Gage (Avengers: Initiative) and Mario Alberti (Amazing Spider-Man) team up this July to bring you Spider-Man/Fantastic Four a companion series to Spider-Man/X-Men. Gage’s take this time around is to capture different points in Spidey’s and the Fantastic Four’s history together. Each issue will deal with his relationship with one of the Fantastic Four and they’re perspective of each other.
Much like Spider-Man/X-Men, each issue will have a new villain that the group will deal with. The first issue features Dr. Doom and Namor. Later in the series they face Venom symbiote without a host and the Skrull De’Lila. The story will jump between four era’s of the Fantastic Four including: Silver Age, Post Secret Wars, New Fantastic Four and Modern Fantastic Four. Again, much like Spider-Man/X-Men there will be a mystery running through the series and tying into each era.
Marvel announced a new monthly Thor title this weekend at C2E2 (Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo). Thor: The Mighty Avenger, will be written by Roger Langridge (The Muppet Show) and drawn by Chris Samnee (Avengers VS Agents of Atlas) and is scheduled to begin in July.
According to Langridge, “the book will have an overarching plot that spans through the first year of the book, but that each issue will act like a one-shot.” This seems to be a growing trend at Marvel. For example, series like the Fantastic Four are doing the same thing. Langridge also stated that Mr. Hyde would be the villain to jump start the series and followed by some re-imagined Asgard and Avenger villains. The series will also at some point feature all of the original Avengers and several other Marvel characters that the team wanted to use. Hopefully the book can hold its own and not become another cameo-of-the-month title like Moon Knight or Wolverine: Origins.
Head to Marvel’s new section to see all of Chris Samnee’s promotional art and character sketches.
