Publishers

Marvel just sent out another one of its mystery teaser campaigns, with the above graphic and the tag "Coming in November 2011." Of late the FF has of course been renamed and renumbered Fantastic Force, in the wake of Johnny Storm's death. However, there had been some speculation that Marvel wouldn't pass up the opportunity to publish FANTASTIC FOUR #600 in what would have been the original numbering. Since two issues are shipping in October, the timing is right. Or it could be the return of Johnny, aka the Human Torch.

A new Cup O' Joe with Marvel's Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada reveals many things, including more about the origin of MIles Morales, and the fact that Quesada has been commissioned by the actual President of the United States for a piece of art. But it also contains an explanation of what has vexed many of late: Marvel's spoilerific PR in major media. For instance the story of the new dark-skinned Spider-Man broke on Tuesday inUSA Today, spoiling the story with its ubiquity before the issue in question came out. However, says Quesada, there really isn't any other way to do it:

If you're a Carl Barks collector, Heritage Auctions is selling a ton of great stuff, including autographed comics, correspondence, and, at the very high end some of Barks incredibly collectible -- and expensive -- oil paintings, like "Red Sails in the Sunset" which starts at $30,000. There's also this Barks Treasury Gold Limited Edition with Signed Certificate #320/1000 (Applewood Books, 1997) made out to "Steve."

Well now. A new day, a new action-oriented reveal for a WB movie character, in this case, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in next year's THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Textured catsuit? Check. Goggles? Check. Red lipstick? Check. Big-ass motorcycle? Check check check.

There have been about 42 multigabillion reactions in the media to the new multi-culti-ultimate Spider-Man, and we're not going to link to all of them, but here are the three best that have crossed our desk today. Perhaps we'll update this post if more good ones come in. • As you can see Stephen Colbert weighed in last night with some funny, funny jokes. Colbert is an avowed comics fan with many crossovers in his resume already, including having Joe Quesada on as a guest, and guesting himself in an issue of Spider-man.

Warner Bros. has released the first picture of Henry Cavill as Superman, and as opposed to previous reveals, they have decided against a standing poser and gone for something way more action-filled and dramatic. And it works. While the trunks are in shadow, this does seem to be the traditional, red-pantied Superman look. Gone, however is the spit curl. The look of the photo is more than a little "Jim Lee-esque" with its heavy grading and dramatic lighting. In our opinion, not a bad update -- but what do you guys think?

It's a week of changes for DC. The last remnants of those who are moving West have packed up shop, and the WildStorm offices in La Jolla are closing for good, ending nearly 20 years of history, innovation and comics. To mark the event, an alumni lunch was held. Apparently the turnout was insane. The final group shot awaits, but above is a sampling, with Hank Kanalz, John Nee, and Carla and Jim Lee. Jim Lee tweeted:

August 31st will be quite a day for DC. On that day they will offer only two comics for sale -- Flashpoint #5 and JLA #1. And stores will be able to sell them at midnight:

When last we saw former Tokyopop owner and publisher Stu Levy, he was in Japan, sleeping in a truck on his way to deliver food to the victims of the March 11th Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that left parts of the country devastated. At the same time that Toykopop was shutting down for good, Levy announced his intention to spend a year making a documentary about the disaster and the survivor's heroic efforts to help others through the tough times. Well, now there's a trailer for this documentary and a Kickstarter page looking to raise $20,000 for post (color grading, etc) and marketing for the film, whose purpose he explains thusly:

While given everything that went on, having another go at Green Lantern seems like a surprising move, Warners really has no choice. They've made a huge investment in their superhero franchises, and with Harry Potter gone, they need another tentpole franchise. Batman gets rebooted after next year and Superman is a big question mark at this point, so throwing money and marketing partnerships at it until the Happy Meals stick seems to be the only way to go.

All of you folks who have been crying about diversity in comics had better be all over this! Marvel has revealed that the new Ultimate Spider-Man will be Hispanic/African-American teenager Miles Morales. A USA Today story broke the news and reveals that yes, Donald Glover's campaign to play Spider-Man was an influence on writer Brian Michael Bendis, although only as an indication that previous discussions about relaunching Spider-Man as a non-white character were on the right track.

What writer has made the biggest contribution to the many universes of DC? Now that question can be answered, at least in terms of volume. Jason Kirk has been playing with the Grand Comic Database and come up with a list of the top 100 DC Comics by page count. You'll need to go to the full link, but here's the top 20 for arguments sake and some of Kirk's talking points: