Publishers

As the PR points out, Chester Brown isn't a recluse but he doesn't leave his home city of Toronto too much, so catching him on the road this year in support of PAYING FOR IT is a must. More dates to be announced, but the current schedule calls for Toronto, Chicago, NYC, Montreal, Vancouver and Seattle.

Maybe it's just the way Magneto says "Ma Vlast," but this version of the X-MEN: FIRST CLASS footage looks better than previous versions and has created a lor more enthusiasm than the Photoshop-lesson posters.

To mark their 100th manga for their iPad app, leading manga publisher Viz Media is launching several promotions, including the release of BAKUMAN #4 in digital form on March 28th, more than a week ahead of its April 5th print debut. In addition, they are making all #1 manga volumes just 99 cents for the rest of March. Finally, BAKUMAN #1 is available for free for 24 hours, starting today at noon PDT. Created by the popular DEATH NOTE team of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, BAKUMAN is a humorous look behind the manga business, following two students who are trying to break into the manga industry,

Two new positions, one a new face, one a familiar one.

Okay, some Dark Horse love for the new series RESIDENT ALIEN, one of a number of series premiering in the new DARK HORSE PRESENTS.

Continuing on the whole Image Comics kick we're on, here's a piece on NONPLAYER by Nate Simpson and why it might be the next NIGHTLY NEWS. Simpson -- not to be confused with Nate Powell or Nate Doyle -- is a relative newcomer to comics, but has a long background as a video game designer.

Another email PR this afternoon from Image Comics, announcing more sellouts and second printings, this time for THE INTREPIDS by Kurtis Wiebe and Scott Kowalchuk and Hoang Nguyen's CARBON GREY. While such press releases have a strong component of sheer hype, and don't necessarily indicate ginormous sales, it's worth noting that we get as many of them from Image these days as from Marvel (DC no longer sends out press releases). Given the recent strengthening of the mid-list, even as the top of the charts shrinks, this could be seen as another example of the increasing democratization of comics sales. We'd also note that both comics sport a a fresher, non-house style look. Maybe there is an audience for something new after all.

Continuing Thor's conquest of all media, Marvel is releasing a new animated Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers series, based on the Robert Rodi and Esad Ribic mini, that explains why they don't get along. The series will be available for download on iTunes, XBox and PlayStation starting 3/28 for $2.99 in HiDef and $1.99 in standard. The trailer debuted on Wired and producer Ruwan Jayatilleke talked about the story:

This Vanity Fairinterview with Stan Lee is FULL of awesomeness, and shows that Lee can still turn a quip like a young man of 70. But the bit that is getting the most excitement this day is the part where Stan answers the question he dodged in MALLRATS all those years ago -- the one about whether the Thing's junk was made of orange rock. Only they didn't call it junk back then--they called it a dork!

According to DC's March 8th retailer email, BATWOMAN #1 by JH Williams III, W. Haden Blackman, and Amy Reeder has been delayed again. The book had been delayed from an earlier launch, although Williams said it was always a bit nebulous:

History repeats itself as one more Roger Langridge's Muppet comics have been put in the vault by a business move. Fans of his near-universally acclaimed run on Boom's Muppet franchise may recall that his run on the beloved puppets began as a strip for Disney Adventures magazine, which was cancelled before the strips could run. Langridge made a few mini comics which he furtively handed out at cobs and the legend of the strips greatness grew. Result: when Boom got the license a call went out.

The fine folks at Comics Alliance did a very sensible thing and hired artist Ulises Farinas -- whose previous Marvel art efforts have been widely admired -- to create a massive Marvel vs DC Where's Waldo type illustration. Your mission: find the Invisible Woman and dozens of other people and objects. We've reproduced only a tiny portion of the whole here -- to see the whole thing at once would overwhelm your senses!