theatlantic:

The Green Lantern Is Gay

It’s time to tally up the betting pools and start paying out: If you picked Green Lantern as DC Comics surprise gay character you won. But depending on who was making your odds, you probably didn’t win much. As far as the speculation goes, the Green Lantern had been the favorite, mostly because rumors sourced to those in the know had been making their way around the Web for days saying as much.

At DC’s own blog, Alex Nagorski says the newly reimagined Alan Scott experienced “a traumatic event [that] will serve as the catalyst for him assuming his superhero identity as The Green Lantern.”

[Image: DC Comics]

Iron Man playing Pokémon. Animated gif here: http://elbichopt.deviantart.com/art/Iron-Man-Playing-Pokemon-301627621

Batman loves his cake.

Art by Joe Quinones 

midtowncomics:

Gotta catch ‘em all!

midtowncomics:

Chris Evans at Midtown Comics! From MTV’s “The Yes or No Show”

On his day off…Agent Coulson doesn’t take a day off.

cliffchiang:

Captain America propaganda poster concepts - 2011

Last year, a marketing firm contacted me about producing 3 propaganda posters to help promote the Captain America movie, and I whipped up these rough concept sketches for their pitch meeting with Paramount. They wanted a solo Cap poster, one with the Howling Commandos, and a Hydra recruitment poster. A fun exercise, though sadly the job didn’t happen. While I didn’t have the time for 3 finished pieces, I’d enlisted Jock and Dave Johnson to do the other 2 posters (with their own concepts) and I’m sure those would have been really spectacular.

theumbrellaseller:

hemsworthss:

science bros.

There are no words to describe my feelings about this relationship. But I’m going to try.

First of all, their parallels. Both geniuses, top of their field. Both suffered an accident that physically changed them, forever, and not in a wholesome Spider-Man kind of way. Both try to do what they can to help others despite their own issues; Banner heals people, Tony works on developing clean energy. And both struggle, in their own way, with duality; Tony and Iron Man, Bruce and the Hulk. Two identities, one body. Only difference is Iron Man’s bad side is Tony.

I mentioned somewhere that Tony sees a bit of himself in Banner because they both have a monster inside them that they can’t control, a creature that springs fully formed from the id, the base impulses and the nasty stuff at the back of the mind. Bruce’s is a giant green rage monster. Tony’s trashed a party in Iron Man 2. Banner has a control over his that Tony hasn’t quite achieved yet; don’t think I didn’t notice Tony pouring himself a whiskey when confronting Loki. Tony is envious, fascinated, and most of all, impressed by Bruce’s control.

So he doesn’t walk on eggshells around Bruce like the others, because that’s not what Bruce needs. Tony sees Bruce’s restraint, sees the quiet, brilliant man making self-deprecating jokes in the corner of the room, sees the way people look at him like he’s going to snap any second, and thinks “nope”. Tony does what no-one else aboard that Helicarrier does. He trusts him. He makes jokes and jabs him and teases him and above all, treats him exactly how he would treat anyone else— he has a great regard for Bruce’s brilliance, and tells him so, but he doesn’t try to ignore the Hulk in the room. When he says “wow, you’ve really got a handle on this, haven’t you?” he’s not saying “gosh, it’s incredible you haven’t snapped yet and killed everyone on board” he’s saying “I know you have a handle on this, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t, so I’m gonna poke you with this sharp object to prove it”. And you can see Bruce relax, and smile, and trust him back.

But then Tony goes even further, and invites Bruce to come to his R&D department. I’m pretty sure the two of them drive off together in Tony’s car at the end of the movie to do just that. And, okay, sure, Bruce is smart, but Tony’s tech is his baby. How many people get invitations to come and see his work? He invites Bruce because he recognises his brilliance, yes, but there’s another reason. He’s inviting Bruce to come down and work with him after this is over. He’s giving Bruce something to do next, a purpose, an alternative to disappearing into the ether to be alone with his monster. Tony knows from experience that being alone with your issues doesn’t end well, so for what’s only the third time in his life he extends the hand of friendship to a guy he’s known barely an hour.

And then, he tells Bruce to let the beast loose. Not just because they need him to fight, but because it will help him. If Bruce can take this thing that he sees as a curse and turn it into a gift, well, that’s going to lift him out of a very dark place. I’m not saying Tony knew about Bruce’s attempted suicide, but I think he had a suspicion that Bruce had been, in his words, “low”. So he encourages Bruce to take all that crap and pain and the Other Guy and use him to help people; after all, that’s what he did.

And it pays off. Nobody— nobody— thinks Bruce is going to turn up for that final battle. You can see the look on Natasha and Steve’s faces when Tony asks if Bruce turned up yet. They’ve counted Bruce out. Guy’s a mess, right? He’s too volatile. Doesn’t play well with others. He could never work as part of a team. No-one thinks he’ll come through when it matters. Except Tony. He has faith in him, and that faith is rewarded. It’s no wonder the Hulk is the one to catch Tony. Tony’s the one who helped let him out. He’s just returning the favor.

Top 5 Avengers TPBs

Now that The Avengers is out, and just made over $200m domestically in 3 days, I’m sure a lot of my friends are probably interested in reading some Avengers stories, but don’t know which ones to pick up. I mean there’s over 49 years worth of Avengers stories out there.

So I’m going to list my top 5 favorite Avengers trade paperbacks you can pick up on Amazon. These books capture what I feel are the quintessential Avengers stories that define the team.

1. Avengers: Kree/Skrull War

A lot of the earlier Avengers stories featured threats no one hero could handle, but none as big as this classic my Roy Thomas. This was known as Marvel’s first major event. And why shouldn’t it be? It featured a Galactic threat so large in scope and size that at times it didn’t seem like the Avengers would even be capable of winning. The story features a war between two alien empires, the Kree and the Skrulls, with Earth caught in the middle. The idea of the Avengers fighting an alien invasion of a massive scale as seen in the Avengers movie was probably first seen in this story.

http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-Kree-Skrull-Roy-Thomas/dp/0785164790/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336355022&sr=1-1

2. Avengers: The Korvac Saga

The Korvac Saga features one of the most powerful villains the Avengers have ever faced. Michael Korvac was an ordinary computer technician who eventually finds himself to wield powers of a cosmic God. Because of his human flaws, Korvac eventually abuses his powers. With enough power to take down some of the best Avengers members, some of the smaller Avengers members gets the spotlight. But overall it’s a good story about a central villain who isn’t the typical Avengers villain - a regular man who has to come to grips with his abuse over ultimate power.

http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-Korvac-Saga-Roger-Stern/dp/0785162054/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336357649&sr=1-2

3. Avengers: Under Siege

Avengers: Under Siege is known as one of the greatest Avengers stories ever written. And there’s a reason why. This was a more personal Avengers story. The Masters of Evil, the team of super villains led by Baron Zemo, the son of Captain America’s World War II Nazi enemy, invaded the Avengers mansion and took it over. Defeating the Avengers, torturing the captives, it emotionally scarred the Avengers, something you don’t see happen to the Avengers often. It’s great to see the heroes win, but sometimes, watching them fight through their worst moments and find a way to overcome their worst obstacles make for a much more interesting read.

http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-Under-Siege-Roger-Stern/dp/0785143823/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336355402&sr=1-1

4. Avengers Forever/Avengers Assemble, Vol. 1/Avengers: Ultron Unlimited/Avengers: Kang Dynasty

This is a little bit of a cheat. Yes, I listed 4 different books. But they all have one thing in common, aside being an Avengers book. They’re all written by Kurt Busiek. The reason I listed all of them is because some of these books are not reprinted and may be harder to find. But any of these books are great examples of Busiek’s run on the Avengers.

Avengers Forever is a big epic where Kang, the Avengers time-travelling villain, is pitted in a battle with his future-self, Immortus, by recruiting various Avengers members from various period of Avengers history. The problem is not all of these Avengers gets along. At times this book gets convoluted, as it tried to correct itself by clearing up any plot-holes brought up in the past. But it’s a celebration of the Avengers past, present and future, and defines what makes the team work over the years. 

Avengers Assemble, Vol. 1 features the first few issues of Busiek’s run on the Avengers in the mid/late-90s. It starts out with a threat so great, 30+ different surviving Avengers assemble together as a very large team. It progresses with the return of a long thought dead Avengers, and continues from there. It gives a good example of how much history is with this team, and is a rather good introduction to what the Avengers is all about.

Avengers: Ultron Unlimited features Ultron’s greatest moment. Ultron was an AI robot originally created by Hank Pym, one of the original Avengers member, who turns evil. Here Ultron achieves his greatest feat yet, but slaughtering an entire small Eastern European county, while the Avengers is helpless about it. When the Avengers does arrive, they find themselves outmatched, while Ultron kidnapped various Avengers members to confront his “family”. This story has a lot of great moments, but also demonstrates how ingrained Ultron is to Avengers history.

And lastly Avengers: Kang Dynasty is a 16-issue long story arc about Kang the Conqueror. This time, Kang succeeds, and it’s up to the Avengers to fight back. It’s a long epic that really encapsulates Busiek’s run. It really captures why Kang is one of the Avengers’ greatest enemies, and shows one of the Avengers’ greatest victory, by defeating a villain that has already won.

Avengers: Forever - http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-Forever-Kurt-Busiek/dp/0785137521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336355889&sr=1-1

Avengers, Assemble: Vol. 1 - http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-Assemble-Vol-Kurt-Busiek/dp/0785144986/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336355920&sr=1-1

Avengers: Ultron Unlimited - http://www.amazon.com/AVENGERS-ULTRON-UNLIMITED-Kurt-Busiek/dp/0785107746/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336355976&sr=1-3

Avengers: Kang Dynasty - http://www.amazon.com/Kang-Dynasty-Avengers-Kurt-Busiek/dp/0785109587/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336356005&sr=1-1-spell

5. The Ultimates: The Ultimate Collection + The Ultimates 2: The Ultimate Collection

In 2000, Marvel created the Ultimate Universe, to try to gain new readers by re-introducing Marvel characters in a contemporary setting. When it came to create the Avengers in the Ultimate Universe, Mark Millary and Bryan Hitch created The Ultimates. In fact, most of the Marvel films draw from The Ultimates. From Nick Fury appearing as Samuel L. Jackson, to throwing Bruce Banner off a helicopter to turn him into the Hulk. It made the Avengers feel modern and most importantly, relevant in a post-9/11 world. The first collection deals with a team that didn’t get along, much like The Avengers film, and ending with an unexpected alien invasion by the Chitauri. The 2nd collection kicks it into high gear with an invasion by an unexpected force that was very relevant during the Bush-era. The books felt like a huge summer blockbuster, with gorgeous art, while maintaining subtle social commentary.

The Ultimates: Ultimate Collection - http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimates-Collection-Mark-Millar/dp/0785143874/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336357756&sr=1-1

The Ultimates 2: Ultimate Collection - http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimates-2-Ultimate-Collection/dp/0785149163/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336357756&sr=1-3

colleencoover:

Two years ago, former Marvel Comics bullpen member Steve Bunche posted a comics try-out page submitted to Marvel in the 1990s by an unknown hopeful. The page, while lacking in polish and technique, nevertheless had very clear storytelling, and, as Bunche notes in his blog post: “While this guy would never have gotten work in a professional comic as a penciller, I have to admire his talent for creating an instant classic of a non sequitor:”

artist unknown

You are not imagining this. Wolverine stalks through the wilderness, searching for we know not what, and finds the late Freddie Mercury, frontman of the band Queen.

The page has since been rattling around on the Internet, occasionally reposted and retweeted, chuckled over and admired by people like my studiomate Jeff Parker, which is how I originally became aware of it. And it just kind of got stuck in my head. For TWO YEARS.

The story as presented raises a number of questions. What is Wolverine looking for? Agents of AIM? Peace and solitude? Or, as my other studiomate Memorial artist Rich Ellis suggested: is he looking to find Somebody To Love?

And how and why does Freddie Mercury appear at the end of his search? Was his tragically fatal illness miraculously cured, perhaps by an alien symbiote? Has he just returned from sailing the Seven Seas of Rhye? Or more simply and perhaps most logically, has Logan found himself in the presence of the worldly manifestation of a literal God of Rock?

And so, I have decided to explore these mysteries by recreating the original story, correcting some of the technical blunders on the way. I invite other artists to do the same, by which exercise we may one day come close to the fictional Truth of the matter.