The artist who draws Ultimate Spider-Man (!!) talks about her process and back story.

Sara Pichelli Says Hello at NYCC 2011 from The Comic Archive on Vimeo.

Via The Mary Sue

This? This looks amazing:

Nawlz Interactive Comic for Ipad from NAWLZ on Vimeo.

NAWLZ is an award winning interactive web comic that is as dense as it is futuristic and cool looking. IT’s coming to our favorite new comics consumption platform – the iPad. Make sure you check out the website; it’s full of super hyper real sf dystopia fun.

“The rules to PILOT SEASON are simple. Each competing team gets a one-shot “pilot issue” comic book to win over fans. When all the books have been released in direct market stores and digital partners, the fans take control and vote on their favorite series. The winner of Pilot Season gets the green light to produce a series to be released at a later date through Top Cow Productions. ”

http://comicsareevil.com/GE9

And well done, Scott Thill:

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman, whose last costume change featured long pants and a ridiculous leather jacket, wears even less clothes along with her new insignia choker, which is not only patently ludicrous but really unnecessary.

If DC Comics thinks it’s going to win over fanboys aroused by Wonder Woman’s incredibly shrinking costume, we have an insanely easily obtainable universe of online porn to show the publisher. Put some clothes on Wonder Woman — it’s not hard, pun intended.

It’s a good sign that Roger Ebert likes Captain America…not that his opinion is the only one that matters, but it’s one I respect (in spite of his good review of Sky Captain once upon a time). Hopefully, this indicates a turnaround for comic book movies, most of which have not fared well critically this summer.

So, are you excited about seeing the good Captain wage war against the Nazis? Or, are you burned out from one too many superhero films this summer season?  Leave a comment and let us know.

Oh – and read Ebert’s review when you get a chance….

There are certainly some interesting choices here – and some books, quite honestly, that I haven’t read yet, which is a very good thing – but does anyone else notice a preponderance of Marvel stuff?  I mean, I kind of gave up on X-Men minis and story runs years ago. Have I really been missing out?  How many books with Wolverine on the cover do we need?

Fortunately, Splash Page’s list is balanced a bit by its inclusion of Knight and Squire and Locke & Key, but what else SHOULD have made this list (and what SHOULD definitely be removed)?  We want to know!

The 25 Best Mini-Series and One-Shots of 2011 (So Far)

In a move that should surprise no one, DC Comics has decided, once again, to reboot their whole entire universe. They’re focusing on 52 books, all of them going back to number one. According to Comic Book Resources, titles will include:

• A new title starring Superman written by Grant Morrison.
• Teen Titans #1
• Justice Society of America #1
• Wonder Woman #1
• Green Lantern #1
• Hawkman #1.
• Aquaman #1

What caught our eye, really, was this bit over on Escapist Magazine:

Justice League #1 will also mark the further entry of comic books into the digital age. Though digital comic books are becoming more common, neither DC nor Marvel have begun to release digital versions of all their books alongside the print versions day-and-date. Starting with Justice League #1, all 52 titles featured in the reboot will be released both digitally and physically on the same day.

We have just one thing to say to this venerable comic publisher: It’s about damn time.

Check out comiXology’s Marvel Monday Half off sale below. Catch up on your X-Factor reading, yeah?

MARVEL MONDAY SALE!

X-Factor #1
X-Factor #2
X-Factor #3
X-Factor #4
X-Factor #5
X-Factor #6
X-Factor #7
X-Factor #8
X-Factor #9
X-Factor #10
X-Factor #11
X-Factor #12

This week, ComiXolgy has a ton of new digital comics to buy. Check it out:

Formic Wars: Burning Earth #5 (of 7)
The Sixth Gun #1
Elephantmen: Man and Elephantman #1
Irredeemable #24
X-Necrosha
Red Sonja #39
FCBD 2011 Super Dinosaur Origin Special #1
FCBD 2011 Atomic Robo & Friends
Elephantmen #30
Secret Invasion: Thor #1 (of 3)
The Darkness: Four Horsemen #1 (of 4)
Punisher #1
Cheryl Blossom: Get a Job #1 (of 3)
FCBD 2011 Misadventures of Adam West #1
Grimm Fairy Tales #24
Headache
Sigil #1 (of 4)
Oz: The Manga #6
Philosopher Rex
Dark Tower: Treachery #1 (of 6)
Walter Koenig’s: Things to Come
Amazing Spider-Man #630
Savage Dragon #15
Valentine (English) #10
The Green Hornet Strikes #6
X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #1 (of 2)
FCBD 2011 Pixies
Archie #501
Buck Rogers #11
Wolverine: Weapon X #6
Madame Mirage #5
Hawkeye: Blind Spot #3 (of 4)
FCBD 2011 Deadliest Sharks & Prehistoric Predators
Back To Brooklyn #4 (of 5)
Jughead #162
FCBD 2011 Endangered Preview
Ultimate Fantastic Four #54
FCBD 2011 The Intrepid Escapegoat
Tellos #7
Archie & Friends #95
Tales from the Clockwork Empire #1
The Mission #3
Savage Beauty #1
Sinbad #12
The Stuff of Legend: The Jungle Vol. 2 #4 (of 4)
Charmed #6

Game Time: City of Heroes: Going Rogue (PC)

In any MMO, the player may come to dislike something about their character (toon, avatar, etc…) well my character Funky Sunshine suffered this and got little play from me. I loved his background. Who could not love a 20 something young man, trained in the martial arts, who rebelled against his evil teacher, and sacrificed himself and be thought dead. Why would anyone not love a fellow who was not dead as thought in 1977, but just transported through time and had a massive Afro and mustache? Well the answers are me and his power set. A level 30 character was a good deal of work in CoH when I made Funky and played him more, but I just did not like the martial arts power set for a Scrapper. I loved his look and made a hard decision, Funky had to go.

Thanks to Going Rogue, Funky got to come back as a heroic Brute. I also replaced his Martial Arts powers with Kinetic Melee. The new class with the new power set proved to be much more to my liking and I am happy to report I enjoy playing him again and the Funk lives on. For you MMO players out there, have any of you ever deleted a character that you put a lot of time into and why?

Game Time: Assassin’s Creed 2(Xbox 360)

What a joy I had starting up Assassin’s Creed 2(AC2)!  Ubisoft put out one heck of a sequel to the original Assassin’s Creed. The fact that they started out with a re-cap of the events of the first game was a delight and got me back into the world of Assassins and Templars and free-running, oh my. The little touches like the database added a little extra cream on top of the package that a geek like me really enjoys. Also to a geek like me, the leap of faith could not get old. Over a two week period I played AC 2 and did not find myself doing anything too bizarre other than the way I dealt with the vile and annoying lute players (more on how to handle them in a future installment).  Since this is not a review, but a musing, I will just say it should be clear I cannot recommend this more and love the way the storyline progressed throughout. I will, however give some insight into the Achievements on AC2, because I did let my OCD take over and 100% this game. Oh yeah.

To be fair, most of the Achievements  were earned for completing the storyline / game. So I won’t be going into those. In my opinion, this is how most game’s points should be doled out. Instead of the random madness that I have seen elsewhere. I am not talking Dead Rising 2 here, because I will fight you if you try and knock that. Most of that game is devised for Achievement whores like me….I digress.

• Tip of the Iceberg – If a player cannot get this they are not trying.
• A piece of the Puzzle – Again, no trying if this is not achieved and the start of a really cool storyline.
• Myth Maker – If finding some statues in your base of operations is too much and the extra money you get is a problem, then play something else.
• Art Connoisseur – Again if players have no interest in buying a couple of paintings, peace out.
• Handy Man – Now I feel like a broken record (or glitched mp3); if the players cannot renovate some buildings for Mario, psssh.
• Podesta of Montergeriggionin – Now the casual players can be separated from those that love the game. Build build build!
• Victory Lies in Preparation – The only hard thing about getting this was completing all of the Altair Quests.
• Vitruvian Man – I would lie if I did not admit to using some online guides to find all of the glyphs and puzzle solutions, but it was well worth it to expand the story. In my mind, one of the most important things to do in the game.
• In Memory of Petruccio – This took some time and is a dumb thing to do unless you must 100% and like capes.
• Show Your Colors – See above….
• I Like The View – Just playing should yield this one.
• Fly Swatter – This would have infuriated me if I had not read about it in the first place. Its not a hard thing to do, but players must realize in advance to kick someone while hang gliding.
• Sweeper – This dumb Achievement took me a while to gather the guards and a big weapon to hit them with.
• No-Hitter – Smoke Bombs and timing.
• Messer Sandman – Rub dirt in it, just try and attack unarmed.
• Doctor – A favorite, come on who does not like poison and killin’?
• Red Light Addict – Easy; spend the florins on the pros from Dover.
• Street Cleaner – I call this, stinky hay stack… and its simple.
• Perfect Harmony is a dumb Achievement, just buy everything and the player will stumble onto it.
• Kleptomaniac – Steal.
• Man of the People…lead to a future story for me to tell…..
• Assassin For Hire – Another that you you will not get if you just are playing storyline missions.
• Mailman – KILL EVERY COURIER!
• Steal Home – I hate race missions.
• Lightning Strike – Run. Dumb.
• Macho Man – Do a beat up mission you dunce, its fun.
• High Dive – COME ON! Jump off of the tall building; can you see why I got 100%?

TV Time: Young Justice

In case this is your first time reading, I like comics and especially tv animated shows based on comics. The animation on this show is great, especially for a weekly show. “Downtime” was no different. At first this episode made me think their Aqualad was The Little Mermaid. Since he was a Mer-person whom gave up everything to be on the surface. Instead of a re-cap here are some Pros and Cons, which might get you to watch or avoid Young Justice.

PROS

• They made up an Atlantean Language and subtitled it
• Service paid to long time fans, by including Garth, Mera and Tula
• Batman seemed to be very much the Bruce Wayne of Batman, Inc. in terms of his attitude towards Robin
• The Flash family
• “I summon the power of the Tempest!”

CONS

• Aqualad’s powers can seemingly do what ever the writers need them to do
• Miss Martian as a telekinetic
• Advertisements for The Clone Wars(just FYI, I cannot stand this commercial for Star Wars toys, and its Mary Sue fan fiction style; I am looking at you – Invented Padawan!)
• ….The Clone Wars….

Next time: More on my Italian adventures, WWE All-stars, Steel City Convention, THINGS!