Dracula returns on Sept. 9!

From Marvel's press release:

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at X-Men #3 by the jaw-dropping creative team of Victor Gischler and Paco Medina.
After back to back sell-outs, the red-hot Curse of the Mutants story continues! In a desperate attempt to end the vampire outbreak, the X-Men do the unthinkable - they resurrect Dracula! Will the former Lord of the Vampires play nice with Cyclops' plan to take down Xarus? Find out this September in X-Men #3.

Check out preview pages at CBR!

"major Marvel mutant moment"

More preview art from X-MEN (Victor Gischler and Paco Medina) posted on LA Times' blog Hero Complex.

A sexy tease

Gischler heralds The Heroic Age

"Marvel is proud to present your first look at the extra-sized DEATH OF DRACULA #1, beginning the biggest changes in the Marvel Universe since Civil War!

Acclaimed writer Victor Gischler and rising star artist Giuseppe Camuncoli enter the Heroic Age by killing one of the Marvel Universe’s most dangerous villains.

But just why does this put the future of the Marvel Universe at stake? Find out in Death of Dracula #1!" (On sale June 30)

Presenting "The Curse of the Mutants"

"Marvel is proud to present your first look at X-Men #1 from the red-hot creative team of Victor Gischler and Paco Medina."

Feast your eyes on these preview pages of the first X-Men #1 in 2 decades!

Show 'em some Texas lovin'

If you're in Houston tomorrow (Saturday), get to Murder by the Book at 5 pm.

Critically-acclaimed writers Swierczy and The Gisch will be signing books and sharing their wisdom about crime novels, smart-ass mutant heroes, and damn good beer.


In the meantime, BSC Reviews has beautiful preview pages of two DEADPOOL issues available on June 9:

DEADPOOL CORPS #3, from Victor Gischler and Rob Liefeld

Issue Synopsis – “WHAT’S THAT, DOGPOOL? WADE WILSON’S TRAPPED IN THE WELL?” No Deadpool Left Behind? Oops. With so many Deadpools to keep track of, I suppose we can understand that our pal Wade might accidentally leave one on the last planet where the Corps fueled up the Bea Arthur and stocked up on hot pockets. But the Corps has bigger worries, specifically an alien fleet of, well, aliens. Aliens with proton blasters and cluster-nukes, aliens who work for the bad guy cosmic uber-mind.


DEADPOOL: Wade Wilson’s War #1, from Duane Swierczynski and Jason Pearson

Issue Synopsis – “THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK” You’ve seen Deadpool in countless (and we mean countless) comics before — but never like this. Really. Want answers about Deadpool? Like why does he refuse to remove his weird red-and-black mask? Why does he only answer to the name “Deadpool?” Was he really part of a black bag special ops team that nobody has ever heard of? Were his teammates really given names like “Bulllseye,” “Silver Sable” and “Domino”? What did Wilson know, and when did he know it? A bloody massacre in Sinaloa, Mexico has left hundreds dead and disgraced soldier Wade Wilson has a LOT of explaining to do.


UPDATE: Swierczy and The Gisch will also be hitting up BookPeople in Austin on Sunday!

Frenemy of the State

Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir have a hot new miniseries (first of an ongoing series of miniseries), called FRENEMY OF THE STATE, which they created and wrote with the lovely and talented Rashida Jones.

If you'll be in Los Angeles this Saturday evening at 7 pm, the team, and their very gifted artist Jeff Wamester (AND a taco truck, we hear!) will be at Meltdown Comics for signings and all-around greatness.

FRENEMY OF THE STATE is an all-new series from the star of NBC's Parks & Recreation and veteran comic scribes DeFilippis & Weir!

Ariana Von Holmberg is an heiress with a secret. But what she's hiding isn't a sex tape or a drug addiction or an affair with a professional golfer—it's a new career as a CIA operative! What better cover for an agent than a globe-trotting, care-free femme with a penchant for flights of fancy? But can Ari balance her high society obligations with her new role as a spy or will the weight of two worlds bring her dual lives to a violent end?

Check out the spiffy preview pages at CBR.

Updates from the Blogpocalypse

Victor Gischler has been crankin' it out!

He has two -- count 'em, uno, dos -- comics out tomorrow:

DEADPOOL: Merc with a Mouth #9 has the luscious mix of Dr. Betty and Professor Veronica... and a can of "stink spray"...? (Preview pages via BSC Review)

PRELUDE TO DEADPOOL CORPS #3 gives us a super hero team that is both fabulously dysfunctional and immensely kickass (Evidenced here). You might also want to brush up via a Mighty Marvel podcast.


On the novel side of things, the pub date for THE DEPUTY is right around the corner -- a corner sweetly padded with great reviews like this one from Indie Crime Blog:

"[In "The Deputy",] Gischler’s prose is deceptively simple. The book is short and to the point, and once it picks up momentum, it doesn’t slow down. Gischler’s been at this novel writing thing for a while now, and it shows. This outing is all muscle and no fat."


Gischler also has a Free Film Option Contest up and running. It is for cool, creative types who want to do something for the greater good. Might that be you?

Once you go green...

(Exclusive clip via Wired.com)

PLANET HULK is out on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download tomorrow, Feb 2!

The incredible Planet Hulk premiere

The Planet Hulk DVD had its bicoastal premiere last night in NY and CA!

Check out some online goodies on Greg Pak's website, including a film clip, podcasts, and more.

In other mean, green updates, Newsarama has snuck an early look at INCREDIBLE HULK #606.

Is that Deadpool, or is it Deadpool?

For your viewing pleasure, BSC Reviews has posted preview pages of the special, double-sized issue of DEADPOOL: Merc with a Mouth.

Issue #7 "Are you there, Deadpool? It's me, Deadpool", by the talented Victor Gischler, lands in your nearest comic store on Wednesday, Jan 20!

Dex in part deux

Take a break today with preview pages of STUMPTOWN #2.

"in this second issue Rucka gets to introduce us to some of the more peripheral characters in Dex’s life, and spend some time developing the characters. It’s all great character stuff, and Rucka executes it beautifully, with very three dimensional characters, natural sounding dialogue, and some genuine emotional moments.

Greg Rucka is great at taking a character and fleshing them out until they feel like a real person. I think that’s part of what makes his writing so good, because once the readers feels like they know the character, they start to live the story with them – they experience every up and down, and every trial and tribulation.

Matthew Southworth provides us with another issue of gorgeous artwork, which I think is actually better than the art in issue #1.

Stumptown #2 is a wonderful follow-up to an explosive debut issue. I don’t normally review both the first and second issues of a series, but after reading Stumptown #2, I felt like I had to let people know just how great this comic is! This is crime comics done right, with interesting cases, a suspenseful plot, and believable characters. This is an essential purchase for fans of crime fiction, and your pull-list is incomplete without it!"
- Edward Kaye, Hypergeek

Take an early sip

The superhero comic she's been waiting for

Kelly Thompson (Comic Book Resources) professes her love for Rucka's Batwoman:

"I've been wanting to talk about Batwoman/Detective Comics since I first started writing this column and I’d been resisting because I’d already written about Greg Rucka’s Stumptown. However, I realized this week that it’s silly to punish Greg Rucka for doing TWO great things. He should be rewarded, not punished.

I L-O-V-E Detective Comics. If I could buy only one monthly book, Detective Comics would be it. If I was buying two books I think it would be Detective Comics and Stumptown.

Detective Comics #860 marked the end of an arc, and also, sadly, the end of the powerful Rucka/Williams team up on Detective Comics...and all I can say at the end of this first arc, this first piece of the ongoing Kate Kane story is 'Thank you, can I please have some more?'"


For more Rucka goodness (and teasers!), check out The Rucka Debrief, pt 2, at Word Balloon.

Introducing Dr. Jennifer Ashton

We're excited about THE BODY SCOOP FOR GIRLS, which comes out next Tuesday, Dec 29!

As an ob-gyn specialing in adolescent care, Dr. Jennifer Ashton understands better than anyone that being a teenage girl these days is fraught with a special kind of angst. But in her practice she talks openly and nonjudgementally to her young patients like a good friend, answering each of their questions respectfully and with candor.

Now she shares this advice in a no-holds-barred guidebook, based on her passion to cut through the embarrassment that girls often feel about their changing bodies and to arm them with the knowledge they need to make smart choices. A comprehensive guide from head to toe, The Body Scoop for Girls covers the basics of puberty and beyond.

Check out an excerpt here.

The Head Trip continues

Sneak a peek at DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH #6.

Is it any wonder BSCReview.com digs Gischler and Deadpool?

"[Gischler] gets dialogue. Deadpool’s doubletalk is a tightrope as the line between being too inclusive and being just hip and trendy is a fine one.

That Deadpool represents the most versatile major character at Marvel is nothing new. There is no change in that, indeed Victor Gischler’s Deadpool would have Jerry Cornelius in the LSC every Tuesday flipping, and thinking “Yo, now he nice”.

Admirably it is the character’s idiosyncrasies that remain a constant. One could surmise that such a characters presents the easiest task to write; after all is it even possible too stray too far into absurdism with the merc? I, however, find Deadpool to be the most deceptively dangerous of undertakings. Creative freedom is often a battle cry in the comics medium, but for the vast majority it is one that is often definable as and followed by noise. Once granted total freedom, once you pick up that brush, the blameable crutch is gone—your faults are your own. Gischler grabs crutches and beats their owners with them while telling them to walk on their own two.

Gischler and Deadpool Dancin till the the end of time and go go going until the Apocalypse... Sweet Muzak to my ears."

First looks

IGN has a preview of BLACKEST NIGHT: Wonder Woman #1, out on Dec. 3.

"Fan-favorite writer Greg Rucka returns to chronicle the adventures of the Amazing Amazon in the DC Universe's darkest hour!

Black Lantern Maxwell Lord has risen and he seeks revenge and retribution for his murder at the hands of Diana. Look for unexpected changes to await Wonder Woman in the course of this series as she plays a major role in the War of Light against the Blackest Night."



Check out the preview of Greg Pak's INCREDIBLE HERCULES #139 at Newsarama too.

"ASSAULT ON NEW OLYMPUS," Part 2 (of 4)
Hercules leads the New and Mighty Avengers against the overwhelming forces of Hera's New Olympus -- but these are no ordinary foes our heroes face, but the gods themselves! Can the superpredator Wolverine outfox an immortal Huntsman? Can Spider-Man out-webspin the divine Arachne? Can Henry Pym outgrow the giant Argus? And with his love Delphyne Gorgon prepared to slay his mentor Athena, Amadeus Cho must make a final, fateful choice!

Are You There, Deadpool? It's Me Deadpool.

Gischler mouthed off on Marvel's Tuesday Q&A about DEADPOOL: Merc with a Mouth #7 -- a souped up issue with art by Rob Liefeld, Kyle Baker, Das Pastoras and regular series artist Bong Dazo.

What do you do with a homesick zombie head? Take it back to the zombie universe, of course!

Hopping through an interdimensional portal in the Florida swamp with Headpool tucked under his arm, Deadpool soon finds himself bouncing through a series of outlandish alternate realities, each more warped than the last. Wade Wilson, say hello to Major Deadpool, the Deadpool Kid and – va-va-voom – Lady Deadpool.


DEADPOOL #7 isn't out until January 2010, so get your fix with #4 today!

“HEAD TRIP,” part 4: Things just keep getting more savage in the Savage Land for poor old Wade. Not only does a crack squad of Hydra shock troops want to put the smackdown on our boy Deadpool, but the cavemen want back their god (i.e. the severed-but-still annoying head of the Marvel Zombies Deadpool) and have turned out the troops, spears ready to fly. Even with Ka-Zar's help, it's going to be a close one. To make matters worse, “Severed Headpool” can't keep his teeth to himself. One hungry bite can bring a world of hurt down on top of Deadpool and the luscious Dr. Betty.

Mucho bueno preview pages are up at BSC. But you don't need 'em, since you're going to get your very own copy at a local comic store, right?

Supergirl vs. Flamebird

"The Hunt for Reactron" starts here! Spilling out of the stunning finale of "Codename: Patriot," Supergirl and Flamebird find themselves at each other's throats! What's happened to these two childhood friends to put them at such odds, and can Nightwing calm them down before the situation escalates? And just what are they going to do about all of the guys who are surrounding them? You know, the guys in the tanks? Continued in SUPERGIRL #45!

Plus! James Robinson and Greg Rucka's Captain Atom co-feature continues! What is happening to Captain Atom, and more important, what's happening to his mind? Team Breach is on hand to lend some answers, but Atom probably isn't going to like them. Featuring the gorgeous art of CAFU!

Whiteout weekend

It's opening weekend!

Here's an interview from Shock Till You Drop, with the stars of the movie that you must go see this weekend:




IGN.com has a special treat for you too -- a 35 page preview of the acclaimed graphic novel on which the movie is based.