
1. FLASH NEWS FLASH! Rumor is that before it even hits the screen, the Green Lantern movie is so good that one of its writers, Great Berlanti, has been tapped to make a Flash flick. And the movie is on the (ahem) fast track. It’s about time D.C. stepped up. Of course, it may be too late. If Kick-Ass is a hit, we may be seeing an end to unrealistic cape capers, and a movement towards neorealism. (Which would be a boon for a Daredevil reboot!)
2. LET’S RAP ABOUT CAP. Another rumor says that the Captain America has been put on hold. I hope they’re firing the director. The Wolfman sucked, and dude has not been doing the hero justice in his public discussions about Steve Rogers.

3. GHOSTBUSTERS 3!(?). There have been dozens of rumors about a third “Ghostbusters,” especially around the time the video game came out last year, so it’s hard at this point to give credence to any of them. But this time it was Bill Murray himself spreading the news that he’d come back for a threequel as the ghost of his character, Peter Venkman. Who knows if it’s true at this point. All I know is, Murray was fantastic in Zombieland.
4. METRIC VS. SCOTT PILGRIM. Finally, a way to combine my two favorite things: Music and comics! The soundtrack to the upcoming comic-turned-Michael-Cera-film ,Scott Pilgrim, features a band you’ve never heard of, “The Clash At Demonhead,” whose music is actually played by a band you have heard of, on this site, many times . . . Metric! The band posted a song, “Black Sheep,” on their Facebook page.
5. MOUSE GUARD. And in a paragraph for my wee ones, the exceedingly high quality kids graphic novel series, David Petersen’s “Mouse Guard,” promises to grow by two titles this year. First, “Legends of the Guard” will be a gonzo book by Petersen’s friends and associates consisting of one-and-dones. Second, “The Black Axe” will take place before the first Mouse Guard book and will feature the origins of Celanawe. One of the Legends tales will be featured on Free Comic Book Day. Now, when will the movie be developed?
6. WANTED 2! Apparently, the movie is a go, sans Jolie. She was hardly the best part about the first one, anyway, which I thought was a really solid action flick.
7. MORE WOLVERINE! I guess Logan got jealous of all the Deadpool books out there, ‘cause they’ve announced yet another Wolverine monthly. In addition to Weapon X, Wolverine, X-Men, whatever Avengers book he’s in, and Dark Wolverine. Oh, and X-Force sometimes, too. And guest shots. What makes this one special? Neal Adams! I wouldn’t really associate his clear, muscular style with the gritty and dirty Wolverine character, but I’ll take a look at anything Neal does. He’s a comic God, and he’s been out of the Marvel biz for about three decades now.
8. PREDATORS. This summer will see the release of “Predators,” and all of my readers who will be at SXSW have a chance to see a preview screening. It’s produced by Robert Rodriguez, which is a good thing if it’s produced by the dude who did El Mariachi and Desperado, but bad if it’s the dude who made that crapfest with Tarantino a few years back . . . And it stars Laurence Fishburne, which, again, points only to ambiguous potential.
9. BATMAN AND ROBIN. And not last but least, a brief review of Grant Morrison’s B&R so far: I like the ideas. The story is cool. The villains are terrific throwbacks to vintage Bob Kane. The art is undependable, but when it’s by Cameron Stewart, it’s great. So why don’t I love this series? Because, as usual, Morrison expects me to be able to read his mind (and/or know every little bit of Bat-lore) in order to understand the story. Grant, all the elements of a story are well and good, but they’re just elements. Story matters.
10. I’M A BLACK LANTERN . . . WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO BE A LANTERN, TOO? Done reading? Go HERE TO find out which Lantern you are!







8. SPIDEY (AGAIN). I talk a lot about Amazing Spider-Man here because none of you ever comment on it, which makes me think you’re not reading it, and you should be. And a good place to start is with this week’s #622, a one-and-done interlude in the “Gauntlet” series, which is bringing back and rebooting all of Spidey’s classic foes. This issue is about Morbius The Living Vampire, who is an old but not exactly “classic.” The art chores are picked up by Joe Quinones (there are rotating creative staffs on the Spidey book) and the writing is by Fred Van Lente, who is fast becoming one of my favorite new writers. (He worked with Greg Pak on Incredible Hercules, picked up the Marvel Zombies series and made it go from just good to great, and has done some really solid kid-oriented comics in the Marvel Adventures line.) It’s far from the best issue of AmSpM, but it’s a nice introduction into how they’re handling Marvel’s best
much. I may actually have to sit this one out. I can’t believe I just wrote that.

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.
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.
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



7. The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror IV (“Bart Simpson’s Dracula”). The 1993 installment of the animated show’s tribute to Halloween–an annual favorite at my house. In this episode, Dracula is portrayed as Mr. Burns, with images that borrow heavily from the brillant Francis Ford Coppola film (see below). That is, before the episode takes a bizarre turn and into a parody of the Charlie Brown Christmas special). Very Monty Pythonesque.



