Marvel

Columbia has just released the FIRST official picture of Andrew Garfield in full, mask-on Spidey-garb and revealed that the next Spider-Man movie will be called THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. A fine title. Directed by Marc Webb from a script by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves, the film will be released July 3, 2012.

Just unveiled over at Facebook, the X-Men: First Class trailer is here. Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass) and staring James McEvoy, Michael Fassbender, January Jones and a cast of thousands, it's a retcon showing the origins of the mutant team in the 60s, starring young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. The original X-Men: First Class comic was written by Jeff Parker, but it hasn't been explained how much of an influence it had on filmmakers. This is miles better than the dreadfully boring stills have were previously released; Vaughn knows his superhero stuff and how to give it some life. Our one big beef: this does not look like it was set in the 60s! Some JFK voice-overs do not a different decade make! Have they never seen Mad Men? Or A Simple Man? Or...the British Avengers.

So with Johnny's eternal flame extinguished, the FF needs a new young toyetic star to join their ranks...and it's...SPIDEY! Who would have seen that coming? Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting will chronicle the new lineup in a book called FF -- for Future Foundation, which will include some "top secret members" according to the pr.

Variety confirms that Cobie Smulders is the front runner for the role of SHIELD agent Maria Hill in Joss Whedon's Avengers movie. Smulders is a Whedon favorite (he wanted her for his Wonder Woman movie) and Hill is a perfect Whedon-type character so the handwriting has been on the wall for this.

It's not a great month for Marvel. In fact, it's one of those rare months when DC had the largest share of the direct market, beating Marvel by 33% to 32% in dollar terms (though if you prefer the unit share, Marvel lead by 39% to 37%). In part, it's because DC's new Batman titles are doing very well - but as we'll see, it's also the case that Marvel just don't have any really big titles out this month. There are a couple of new ongoing series this month - WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS and HEROES FOR HIRE. Following the Shadowland crossover, DAREDEVIL reinvents itself as BLACK PANTHER. And there's just one new miniseries - ULTIMATE COMICS DOOM. And that's it, so far as new books.

http://d.yimg.com/nl/movies/site/player.swf Howcum Thor doesn't have a Norwegian accent? Just sayin'.

http://d.yimg.com/nl/movies/site/player.swf In addition to showcasing the TRON 3 trailer as performed by the Black Eyed Peas, Super Bowl XLV also featured the debut of the...

Marvel has released the cover to the first issue of its upcoming FEAR ITSELF event, written by Matt Fraction with art by Stuart Immonen...

July's Captain America film starring Chris Evans just got its first poster. Looks gritty.

A news teaser campaign rolls out. Of course, the temptation to answer "a cult 1999 film starring Janeane Garofalo, Ben Stiller, Paul Reubens, Eddie Izzard, and William H. Macy and created by Bob Burden" is irresistible. If only...

February has only 28 days, but is jam-packed with lots of great graphic novels and related titles! Warning... looking at what appears so far on BarnesAndNoble.com, the rest of 2011 is going to be just as amazing! Click this link to discover more! (Sweet Kirby Crackle! Corto Maltese, in English, from Rizzoli?!) Better start shopping for bookshelves now.

Okay, so a member of the Fantastic Four died in FF #587 -- a comic which would normally be on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, like usual, but went on sale early at selected retailers. At the same time, a story hit the wires, NPR and just about every other media outlet with a "DEATH IN THE FAMILY" type story, effectively spoiling what had been a pretty well kept secret until then. Twitter was fluttering from the moment the stories hit. Whether you were outraged or shrugged your shoulders at the spoilage it was yet another example of a Big Two publisher planting a major media story and having no good option for timing. This also happened, famously, with the death of Captain America, the death of Batman, and surely many others stories we are too jaded to remember.