1.  SOMETIMES IT ENDS IN APRIL. As expected, Marvel has confirmed that all four Avengers books are ending in April, with the end of Siege.  The most amazing part of all that is that these books are regular big sellers, and Marvel is not known for leaving money on the table.  I groused a lot about the Death of Cap, Avengers Dissembled, the creation of Dark Avengers, but I’ve learned to trust Joe.  To make the bittersweet sweeter, there will be a one-shot finale for New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis and artist Bryan Hitch (who I thought had gone over to D.C. exclusively?).  What’s next?  The “Age of Heroes.”  Hopefully, this means we can get a little more levity and optimism from our heroes.  Also, I hope Cap punches Tony Stark in the face.  At least once.
2.  THE RETURN OF THE TITANS. When I was a kid, The New Teen Titans was my favorite comic book.  I’m talking about the Marv Wolfman/George Perez title; the one that introduced Raven and Starfire, turned Robin into Nightwing and Kid Flash into Flash, established the creepy (incestuous?) relationship between Terra and Terminator, and served as inspiration for one of the greatest cartoons of all time: Teen Titans, Go!  The book turned sidekicks into stars, and made spin-off characters more interesting than the big-boys they were based on.  D.C. has announced that they’re going to publish a new graphic novel by Wolfman/Perez, that was actually begun in 1987.  It will feature the Teen Titans from that era—when they were at their best.  I wrote a few weeks ago about D.C.’s plans for Superman and Batman Graphic Novels as well.  I think they’re recognizing that serialized issues aren’t as appealing to collectors any more for many
reasons—paperbacks are easier to store, tell whole stories in one sitting, and are much, much cheaper.  Perhaps D.C. will do for this format what Marvel did for trades in the 2000s?  At the same time that Marv and George are returning, DC has announced a “Titans: Villains for Hire” team headed up by Terminator, which might(?) be good (although recent Titans titles have pretty much been underwhelming).
3.  SPIDER-MAN 4. What a week!  The fact that Spider-Man 4 news is this low on the list of items you need to know about shows how many cool things are going on right now.  Plus, I’m sure most have already heard that the new Spidey director is in fact Marc Webb, a rumor I reported on last week.  He directed one of the Greatest Chick Flicks Of All Time and one of the best movies of 2009: (500) Days of Summer.  Can a quirky romantic director capture Spidey in high school?  Probably.  Sam Raimi did wonders for the character, and changed supermovies forever, but maybe it is time for new blood.  I’m actually feeling optimistic—I’m not sure Raimi had much left to say about Spider-Man, and new creative blood might do the franchise some good.  Now we’ll see if Twilight star Taylor Lautner is indeed the new Peter Parker . . .
4.  ADVENTURE COMICS. I’m going to give a special shout-out to the first six issues of Adventure Comics, which conclude the story arc introducing the “new” (old) Superboy.  Issue one started with Superboy’s diary, in which he began checking off important events in Superman and Luthor’s lives, to determine which of his two genetic fathers were most important to his character.  I’m not going to give anything away, but I am going to say that Geoff Johns has (again) reinvented the way hero/villain stories should be told.  It shows how evil a villain can be, and how hard it is for a hero to act heroic in the face of such evil.  This is a terrific story arc that reboots a character while simultaneously reconciling with his convoluted past.  And the art by Francis Manapul is some of the best I’ve seen.  This is the last issue for the Johns/Manapul team, who are moving to the Flash title, and I can’t imagine how the book will maintain its quality in the future.  Although I know that, as for the weaker Legion of Super Heroes stories that have been second features in some of the first 6 issues, Paul Levitz is relaunching a new Legion book soon.  And I have hopes for that, because he’s far and away the best Legion writer of all time.

5.  WHO’S IVAN REITMAN GONNA CALL? Ivan has agreed to do Ghostbusters 3, and there are indications Sigourney Weaver could be on board.  I like Siggy and all, but without Bill Murray . ..
6.  CHICKS WITH PECS! In the spirit of Pet Avengers, Marvel is turning women into novelty items with a new book, Her-Oes, an out-of-continuity book featuring hot Marvel ladies like Wasp, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel and Namora . . . In High School.  The sample art from
http://www.comicbookresources.com/
Comic Book Resources looks very Power-Pack-ish, so I’m guessing this will be an all-ages book, but the author is comparing it to Ultimate Spider-Man.  The only hope for this book is that it’s written by Grace Randolph, the woman behind BOOM’s “Muppet Peter Pan,” a decent quality kids comic.  I reserve judgment . . .

7.  WALKING DEAD REDEMPTION. I reported last week about AMC picking up a Walking Dead series.  Well, they’ve approved the pilot, and it’s written by Frank (Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) Darabont.  Couldn’t think of anyone better.  We’ll end on that!

Tags: Comic books, Movies, Spider-Man, Teen Titans, The Avengers, Zombies