Comics

We get a lot of previews in our in-box -- 146 a day from Marvel's Arune Singh alone -- but we can't run them all nor would we want to. But we can't help but be tempted by the prospect of another Brubaker/Phillips production, this time Incognito: Bad Influences #1.

The Eisner Award-winning team of Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips and Val Staples present the most anticipated super hero noir series of the century, as Zack Overkill heads deeper into the criminal underworld than ever before. This is the mission that’ll redefine his life…if he can find a way to survive long enough.

The book goes on sale on October 20.

Experimental, award-winning cartoonist Dash Shaw is obsessed with the reality show Blind Date. Don't ask why -- it just is.

This was sent to us in email by artist Ulises Farinas and we're not sure what it is, but it is pretty damned amazing. Farinas has done other "unauthorized" Marvel art before, but this should so be used for something cool.

The acclaimed artist of Marvel's Oz adaptations thinks there are a lot more kids comics around than we think:

Former Marvel E-i-C Bob Harras has just been named DC Editor-in-Chief. Harras will be in charge of all DC imprints, including DC Comics, Vertigo and MAD. Since leaving Marvel in 2000, Harras held a variety of consulting positions and and joined DC's collected editions department several years ago as Group Editor. The announcement is a little bit of a surprise as Harras had kept a low profile at DC...perhaps all the more reason to be given a promotion. At any rate, it's sort of a no-brainer since he already has experience running a giant comics publishing company and knows DC's operations inside out.

Somehow or other we just stumbled across this blog by Hungarian cartoonist Attila Futaki whose comics adaptation of the immensely popular Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book One: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan just came out. There are quite a few of these YA novel to graphic novel conversions going on, but Futaki's art is a lot nicer than it has to be. The final version is colored by José Villarrubia and looks even better.

An investigative report by Frank Santoro.

Note: We thought this interview with Feige on the occasion of the IRON MAN 2 Blu-ray release was incredibly long and unfocused and couldn't believe he or his secretary took all the time to answer the questions, but turns out it was a ROUNDTABLE. That makes more sense. .

A lot of think pieces are beginning to come out about the DC upheaval -- it's beginning to be clear that the initial feelings of relief after the first press release were about as accurate as the "We dodged that one!" feelings right after Katrina passed through. As expected, Tom Spurgeon lays out Twelve Initial Questions I Have About DC's Publishing Moves Announcements and it's very thorough. Tom writes from the distinct perspective of someone who isn't immersed in day-to-day DC Kremlinology and yet comes to many of the same conclusions.

When a company spokesman suggested that the LA Times story stating that 20 percent of DC's 250 or 50 employees would be laid off, was incorrect, he was perhaps half right. Bloomberg News uncovered a NY State Dept. of Labor WARN filing (Worker Adjustment and Retraining) which says that 80 employees will be laid off or relocate. Layoffs will begin on 12/27/2010 and continue through 8/27/2011, according to filer June Martin, SVP Human Resources. A DC spokesman told Bloomberg:

This Strange Tale II cover by Ivan Brunetti -- revealed in Marvel's December solicitations -- has been justly lauded from coast to coast -- just look at the expression on Dr. Strange's face if you don't believe us. But we also like this Ozma of Oz cover by Skottie Young. We've seen a lot of Oz art in our day, and this takes it in a whole new direction that genuinely exciting.

Art blog Four Color Process - adventures deep inside the comic book blows up comics panels and finds the truth about life in benday dots. And it's a whole lotta truth.