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Steve Ditko is one of the most innovative and influential comic book artists of all time. He co-created “The Amazing Spider-Man” (Ditko’s original and imaginative design for that character is an icon known world-wide) and worked on such well-known characters as The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man. His creative contributions to those characters during their early years helped secure their longevity and appeal over the decades. [SNIP] Originally included in the graphic novel, “Steve Ditko’s Static,” published by Robin Snyder and Steve Ditko in 1988, “In Principle” is chillingly more relevant today than it was when it was originally published....

Bono and The Edge have described their forthcoming Spider-Man musical as "dizzy" and "not a straight take on the myth". Turn Off The Dark, the production the Dublin band has written music and lyrics for, is set to open on Broadway in New York in 2010. They also confirmed American actress Evan Rachel Wood would play the part of MJ and revealed more about the other characters. ...Bono said: "We've got a new villain, it's a girl. It's a very extraordinary role. We've taken it to a much more dizzy place than you'd expect. We've got big tunes. We're very...

10. Radiant City Radiant City first appeared in 80s’ comic Mister X. Published by Vortex Comics, it’s quirky storyline and new-wave, post-atomic style graphics made it something of a cult hit – British style mag The Face loved it. Mr X became a very cool secret for nerds and hipsters only. Here’s Canadian Dean Motter on his creation. ‘It is a noir tale set in the futuristic present as envisioned in 1939. It concerns a city – Radiant City - designed to be a utopia, but its subliminal design flaws are driving its citizenry insane. Mister X is one of...

A US columnist is out of a job after posting an online review of an illegally downloaded copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Roger Friedman, who wrote the piece on his regular column, had worked at the Fox news website for 10 years.

Darwinian evolution in the light of genomics Eugene V. Koonin* National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA ABSTRACT Comparative genomics and systems biology offer unprecedented opportunities for testing central tenets of evolutionary biology formulated by Darwin in the Origin of Species in 1859 and expanded in the Modern Synthesis 100 years later. Evolutionary-genomic studies show that natural selection is only one of the forces that shape genome evolution and is not quantitatively dominant, whereas non-adaptive processes are much more prominent than previously suspected. Major contributions of horizontal gene transfer and diverse...

America faces an economic calamity. Trouble brews in faraway lands. Sound familiar? More than 70 years ago, the very first superheroes debuted in the dire times of the Great Depression and the early years of World War II. Their names became legend -- Superman, Batman (or, as he was then known, the Bat-Man), Wonder Woman, Captain America -- and they're still with us today. A new exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles celebrates these icons from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Through a collection of rare original artwork and comics, the exhibit explores how a group...

PORTLAND, Ore. - One of the Northwest's most notorious unsolved crimes may have a comic book connection and while it may sound kooky, the FBI agent in charge of the case says the new clue is no laughing matter. In November 1971, a man identifying himself as Dan Cooper, later mistakenly called D.B. Cooper, hijacked a Northwest Orient flight from Portland to Seattle, claiming he had a bomb. At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, he released the passengers in exchange for $200,000 and four parachutes and asked to be flown to Mexico. He jumped from the plane somewhere near the Oregon state...

The first couple of times that Barack Obama popped up in comic books he was fairly conservative. He received an endorsement from the Savage Dragon during the election, and he hung out with everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man at his inauguration. Now, that Barack Obama is actually President and occupying the White House his comic book appearances have gotten a little more risqué. No longer is comic book Barack Obama content to sit on the sidelines and let the superheroes take care of business. No, comic book Barack Obama wants a piece of the action himself. On a WonderCon variant cover...

To millions of Americans fascinated by comic-book superheroes, Bill Jemas of Princeton is an industry legend who helped breathe life into Marvel Enterprises by pushing the wildly successful “Ultimate Spider-Man” series that rejuvenated the company. These days, however, Jemas, a high-energy 51-year-old whose controversial four years as Marvel’s president remain fodder for comic-book blogs, finds himself engrossed in a task far removed from dialogue balloons. Each morning before sunrise, for the last three years, the Rutgers and Harvard Law School graduate has labored over the Bible, specifically the Book of Genesis in Hebrew, the language in which it was first...

FAIRBANKS — Lipstick or not, the Female Force is strong. A new comic book series from Washington-state-based Bluewater Comics tells the real-life story, in comic book form, of forceful females in today’s political spotlight — including Gov. Sarah Palin. While Palin was not the first woman featured in the four-part series, she may be the most important, at least in Alaska. “I really like your governor. I hope she likes (the February 2009 issue of Female Force),” said Bluewater Comics editor and Female Force co-creator Darren G. Davis. The series is a sort of biographical look at four major female...

Obama-Man, Obama-Man, does whatever a spider can. Marvel Comics says it plans to print a second and third round of its latest "Spider-Man" comic book after the issue, which features President-elect Barack Obama, sold out in record numbers Wednesday -- just hours after hitting stands. The company expects it to be the industry's best-selling comic in over a decade.

Pretty funny.Gutfeld: "It's as racist as it is not not racist". LOL!

Once, comic books were against Nazis and Hitler and were very up front in supporting America's fight against them. But those days are over. Both DC and Marvel Comics long ago embraced left-wing politics, and when it came to the war on terror, they were for the most part silent. Fighting "global warming" and on behalf of other mythical left-wing creations was far more important (as was transforming Wonder Woman into an ugly, steroidal man). Now, though, comic books are back to supporting the President, since he embodies their far-left ideology. Yup, Spider-Man is in the tank for Obama and...

With a comic book aficionado about to be sworn in as the president of the United States, it’s no surprise that comic book makers are eager to capitalize on their new inside-in-the-beltway connection. But is it true that comic books are now turning partisan? It’s been all over the news this week that Marvel Comics is planning a special issue Jan. 14 , 2009, issue of Amazing Spider-Man #583 with Obama on the cover. Inside are five pages of Obama-Spider-Man escapades, as Spider-Man stops the Chameleon from spoiling Obama’s swearing-in....“Even Comic Books Crawling with Pro-Obama Bias?,” asks Ken Shepherd at...

Obama and Spider-Man appear in comic together WASHINGTON (AP) - Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect. Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a "shout-out back" by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor-in-chief.

Today, Stan Lee, quite possibly the biggest name in comics, was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In the 1960s, Lee built the success of Marvel Comics on the backs of his famous characters: Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, and The X-Men, among many others who are still followed today by millions of fans. Rather than mimic his contemporaries with stalwart, righteous super-heroes, Stan Lee created flawed characters who instantly tapped into the growing pains of his readership. Known for his enthusiastic approach to narration, Lee was his usual chatty, sarcastic self about the award in...

Like other kids the world over, Middle Eastern children have long fantasized about superheroes battling injustice in American cities or fighting beasts in Japan. Five years ago, they got some champions of their own to cheer on when Kuwait-born businessman Naif Al-Mutawa created a new breed of superheroes endowed with Muslim traits and virtues. Now Mutawa is on an even greater mission: taking those same Islamic characters around the world. The 99, a comic-book series based on characters that each personify one of the 99 qualities that the Koran attributes to God, met early resistance in places like Saudi Arabia....

Everyone’s talking about politics these days, and in September, that will come to include the heroes and characters of the DC Universe. The place for the discussion: DCU Decisions, a four-part miniseries shipping every other week in September and October, written by Bill Willingham and Judd Winick, with art and covers by Stephane Roux. The heroes…they’re drawn into the political arena both by circumstance and by the actions of one of their own. A look at the art to the right makes that latter part pretty clear. We spoke with DCU Executive Editor Dan DiDio about the story, the idea...

World War II was over, but as the 1940s gave way to the 1950s, a new evil lurked in the land. It attracted a youthful audience -- boys, mostly -- who fell victim to its colorful images, dripping in red, and gave money to its purveyors. Authorities took notice. The United States had a new menace, they said, one whose name started with "c" and whose first syllable rhymed with "bomb." Comic books. These weren't just any comic books, the ones filled with the derring-do of superheroes. These had names such as "Tales from the Crypt," "Shock SuspenStories" and "Justice...

A good friend recently pointed out a web site which has scans of Catholic comic books from the 1940s through the 1960s. On the one hand, they are fun and a great snapshot into mid twentieth- century Catholicism. On the other hand, it is remarkable how much serious content they bring with them. The images pictured here come from a 1948 issue on the Mass, which starts with Old Testament typologies, gives a short history of the development of the rites, and then establishes that the earthly liturgy takes place within the context of the joining of heaven and earth....

“Living legend” is how Joe Simon is categorized on the list of special guests appearing at the New York Comic Con at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center this weekend. Mr. Simon, 94, has a different take on it. “I call it the old-geezer table,” he said during a recent interview at his Midtown Manhattan apartment. Mr. Simon will take part in the “Legends Behind the Comic Books” panel at 3 p.m. on Friday, one of numerous events planned at the convention, a three-day celebration of all things comics. Mr. Simon earned the “legend” title with his partner Jack Kirby...

On Monday, New York Times Arts writer George Gene Gustines profiled gay novelist Perry Moore, a fervent supporter of gay rights -- for fictional comic book characters. "Novelist's Superhero Is Out to Right Wrongs" began: "Perry Moore has the sinewy physique and golden looks of a California surfer, but get him talking about comics, and he can out-geek the biggest fanatic. He also has the fervor of an activist when discussing the dearth -- and occasional shoddy treatment -- of gay superheroes in mainstream comic books." Now there's a vital cause we can all rally behind! "It is an issue...

Comic Book Culture by: Malcolm A. Kline, July 24, 2007 In a day and age in which college standards have dropped so low that it is possible to graduate from a name university without having read a book, a course on “Comics and Culture” might seem apropos but that irony is lost on the creators of the Juniata College course. “In the 1970s there were superheroes like Green Lantern and Green Arrow,” history professor David C. Hsuing told Elizabeth Quill of The Chronicle of Higher Education. “They did not kill red aliens threatening the earth with some cosmic gizmo, but...

Sales of a Tintin comic book have rocketed since Britain's Commission for Racial Equality claimed it was racist, a newspaper has reported. Sales of Tintin in the Congo have shot up by 3800 per cent after the CRE watchdog claimed it contained potentially highly offensive material, said The Daily Telegraph. The comic has reached number eight on internet retailer Amazon's most popular books list, the broadsheet reported. A CRE spokesman accepted that its interjection could have sparked the rise in sales. "It is a delicate balance but because we had a complaint from a member of the public we felt...

Superheroes With a Muslim Message - 99 Islamic Superheroes Find Success on Newsstands Alongside Batman, Superman By REBECCA LEE May 16, 2007 — Watch out, Captain America. Step aside, Superman. There's a new breed of crime fighting superheroes looking to capture the comic book scene, with 99 characters from around the world with one trait in common amid their superpower strengths -- they are rooted in Islam. "Islam is not mentioned directly in these comics, but the back story is very much based on Islamic tradition and culture," said Kuwaiti psychologist Naif al Mutawa, who teamed up with cartoon giant...

With more than 60 years of a certain... shall we say, style behind them, Archie, Betty, Veronica, and the whole Riverdale gang will be getting a new look in 2007, courtesy of artist Steven Butler. Rather than moving to a manga style, which has worked on Sabrina by Tania del Rio, this change will move the art towards a more contemporary comic book style, more realistic, and less cartoony. The move, an Archie Comics representative told Newsarama, is a continuing experiment and exploration with the characters, showcasing not only their timlessness, but theur adaptability as well. The first of the...

(Miami-AP) December 12, 2006 - The creator of the comic book superhero Green Lantern has died. Martin Nodell, who invented the character that used his magical ring to fight crime, died Saturday in Wisconsin at the age of 91. According to the senior editor of Comics Buyer's Guide, Nodell was looking for a new idea for a comic book when he was waiting for a New York subway and saw a train operator waving a lantern displaying a green light. Nodell imagined a young engineer, Alan Scott, a train crash survivor who discovers in the debris an ancient lantern forged...

Note: although Hillary has been removed as a defendant (it will be appealed) in the case Paul v. Clinton, she will be ordered to testify. She and her defendant husband are expected to be in Los Angeles for a sworn deposition in as soon as 60 days. Does anyone remember the last time William Jefferson Blythe Clinton testified under oath? scroll down for the roughcut video trailer -- INDICTING HILLARY. We are behind schedule but will have a least a short version of the film out during this campaign season. Stan Lee is sitting to the left of Hillary at...

PREVIOUS REPORT ON FR - PHONE CONVERSATION WITH STAN LEE SPIDERMAN TESTIMONY SHOWS THAT HILLARY IS LYING - SEE IT ON YOUTUBE Hillary Clinton has filed four fraudulent FEC reports regarding her 2000 senate campaign. The most recent is January 2006. The mainstream media has been given the information. Why won't they report it? If you have the opportunity, please send the video to journalists. Perhaps someone in the mainstream will finally come to the party, albeit kicking and screaming. Thanks.

Dynamite Entertainment, Brett Matthews, John Cassaday and Sergio Cariello with Dean White present the comic book event of 2006 - the LONE RANGER - rides again!!!! Written by Brett ("Firefly") Matthews and art directed by John ("Astonishing X-Men") Cassaday - who also provide each "dynamite" cover (that's right fans - Mr. Astonishing X-Men and Planetary is the single cover artist, THE LONE RANGER #1 also features veteran illustrator Sergio Cariello and colorist Dean ("Punisher") White. THE LONE RANGER #1 is an unrelenting tale of the West. A young man searches for revenge, only to find justice... and that he's something...

Stand by for some really great laughs on Sunday, November 5. Some Dummies, taking their cue from the movie, V For Vendetta, are actually planning to gather in front of public buildings around the country wearing dopey Guy Fawkes masks as you can see in this THREAD titled, "Remember, remember the 5th of November....". Yeah, that's just the ticket, DUmmies. Leading into the midterm elections, make complete FOOLS of yourselves. This doesn't totally surprise me since the DUmmies instantly took to this fantasy flick in which Britain is ruled by an EVIL rightwing regime. The DUmmies have fantasized themselves...

<p>Mystery writer Mickey Spillane dies after a long illness, a nursing home spokesman says. He was 87.</p>

Superheroes: fighting crime, fighting hemorrhoids By Eric Heyl TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, June 23, 2006 Crime fighting lesbians might only be the beginning. DC Comics recently announced the soon-to-be revived Batwoman character will do more than battle evildoers. She also will display a libidinal fondness for the ladies. (Here is where I resist the temptation to say: Not that there's anything wrong with that. Not that there's anything wrong with using that oft-quoted Seinfeldism, except for the fact it has become a cliche.)

American icon - tall, built, brave. And hot. But now, as Superman is set to fly onto the big screen next week, bringing truth, justice and rippling muscles to a new generation of moviegoers, there comes word that the Man of Steel has a secret. The man behind the red cape is a Yeshiva boy. Superman - Jewish? "Only a Jew would think of a name like Clark Kent," says Brooklyn Rabbi Simcha Weinstein. "He's the bumbling, nebbish, Jewish stereotype. He's Woody Allen. Can't get the girl. Can't get the job - at the same time, he has this tremendous...

Conservative comic book publisher of Liberality For All, (which features bio-mechanically altered Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North fighting oppressive Liberals in an alternate U.N. dominated reality), is donating all proceeds from their website to victims in Bantul, Indonesia.

POW! (How far should I go to protect my rights?) BAM! (What's my position on gay marriage?) ZING! (Look out for that embedded reporter!) In today's comic books, superheroes aren't just thinking about how to defeat the usual kryptonite-wielding villains. They're also tackling topics such as terrorism, war, and civil liberties as a heavy dose of 21st-century reality seeps into their alternate universe. In Civil War, a sprawling new Marvel series, superheroes like Spider-Man and Captain America must choose sides over whether the government should be allowed to register them. In a comic book called Ex Machina, a 9/11 hero-turned-mayor...

UP, UP AND OY VEY!: How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero Release Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 Publisher: Leviathan Press ISBN: 1-881927-32-6 Format: Paperback "Up, Up, and Oy Vey chronicles how Jewish history, culture, & values helped shape the early years of the comic book industry."The early comic book creators were almost all Jewish, and as children of immigrants, they spent their lives trying to escape the second-class mentality which was forced on them by the outside world. Their fight for truth, justice, and the American Way is portrayed by the superheroes they created. The...

BATMAN TAKES ON AL QAEDA By Michelle Malkin   ·   February 13, 2006 01:50 PM Famed graphic novelist/illustrator Frank Miller is joining the Cartoon Wars. He announced his plans at the WonderCon comic book conference yesterday. Yes! During his WonderCon panel, Frank Miller discussed his next graphic novel. Once again, Miller returns to the world of the Batman, this time with Holy Terror, Batman!. Though the title plays with Robin's classic catchphrase, the book deals with a serious subject. Gotham has been attacked by Al Qaeda and Batman sets out to defend the city he loves. The book, which Miller has...

BERLIN (Reuters) - The good guy in the Wachowski brothers' latest cinematic adventure is a "terrorist" at war with the British government. The masked crusader makes homemade bombs, which he plants on London's subway system, and condones violence in pursuit of justice. The Orwellian authorities rule chiefly by fear. With "V for Vendetta", the scriptwriters who brought us "The Matrix" may be asking for trouble. Starring a shaven-headed Natalie Portman as the foil to the mystery man known only as V, the film is based on a 1980s graphic novel warning readers about the danger of lurching to the political...

Who watches the watchers? A comic book as political commentary In the field of comic books, a 12 part series called Watchmen, created by the writer as a political commentary on its time, was hailed as having "transcended its origins," becoming a watershed in comics entertainment. This series, published in 1986, was at the front edge of a wave of comics in the early and mid 1980s that attempted to demolish the heroes of the past and replace them with a post-hero world of darkness and pessimism. Watchmen was a reflection of the contemporary political positions held by an influential...

(CNSNews.com) - Move over, Superman and Spider-Man. A new comic book is turning conservative media personalities Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North into super-heroes in a future where America is dominated by liberal extremists and New York City faces a nuclear holocaust on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The eight-part full-color series, entitled "Liberality for All," is set in the year 2021. Two decades to the minute after the terrorist attacks on New York City, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United Nations -- Osama bin Laden -- is scheduled to issue a public apology for that "misunderstanding." The apology...

It is 2021, tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of 9/11 It is up to an underground group of bio-mechanically enhanced conservatives led by Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North to thwart Ambassador Usama Bin Laden's plans to nuke New York City ...And wake the world from an Orwellian nightmare of United Nations- dominated ultra-liberalism.

Liberality For All8 issue mini series - Color Synopsis: America’s future has become an Orwellian nightmare of ultra-liberalism. Beginning with the Gore Presidency, the government has become increasingly dominated by liberal extremists. In 2004, Muslim terrorists stopped viewing the weakened American government as a threat; instead they set their sights on their true enemies, vocal American conservatives. On one dark day, in 2006, many conservative voices went forever silent at the hands of terrorist assassins. Those which survived joined forces and formed a powerful covert conservative organization called “The Freedom of Information League”, aka F.O.I.L. The efforts of F.O.I.L. threaten...

Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez called the criticism regarding Memín “a total lack of respect for our culture.” We agree. Racist caricatures are a beloved tradition in Latin America—and where the hell do Americans get the gumption to attack our stereotyping of J**s, c***s, I****s and n****s? We love ’em—so much, we use them to hawk everything from flour to peanuts. Consider the following products, all purchased at local Latino grocery stores.

February 15, 2005 COMMENTARY It's a Bird ... It's a Plane ... It's the Fading Future of Comics By Gerard Jones, Gerard Jones is the author of "Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book" (Basic Books, 2004). A federal judge ruled last week that Marvel Comics owes millions of dollars to its longtime writer, Stan Lee, in unpaid profits from movies based on the characters he created: Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Incredible Hulk. Lee's lawsuit had sent a modest shock wave through the comics community — not because a comic book publisher scammed one...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

One of the seminal American comic artists. He also did training guides for the U.S. Army during WW2.

MEXICO CITY — The Foreign Ministry is about to unveil its latest weapon in an ongoing campaign to reduce the grim count of migrants who perish trying to cross into the United States illegally. Comic books. Acknowledging that countless of its citizens can't be dissuaded from embarking on illegal border crossings, the Mexican government wants them to know how to survive — and how to deal with U.S. authorities if they're caught. Starting this week, 1.5 million copies of the "Mexican Migrant's Guide" will be dropped at bus stations across Mexico. Copies eventually will make their way to Mexican consulates...

Ready to take your fandom to the next level? MTV has opened applications for a new reality show, the premise of which will involve a group of fans who have designed their own super hero characters. Here’s the rub though – the finalists will live together in a house as their hero, and compete against celebrity villains for the grand prize – having their character published in a comic book. According to the production company, a “Legendary Comic Book Creator” As the production company is being mum about further details, it’s unclear if this show is the previously announced teaming...

In a deal it hopes will produce a trove of new properties to exploit across various media, Walt Disney Co. has bought the assets of CrossGen Entertainment, a comic book publisher whose fantasy and sci-fi titles include "Abadazad," "Mystic" and "Route 666." Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition of the more than two dozen titles comes as Disney is set to launch a TV series in the United States based on "W.I.T.C.H.," a comic magazine for tween girls that debuted in 2001 in Italy. Disney says "W.I.T.C.H." is now the fourth-largest magazine in the world in terms of international editions....