NEWS OF THE WEEK

Is there any news other than Marvel Now!?

Yes!  Hit the break for news about Batman, the Marvel Zombies, and more!

THE SECRET OF “THIS IS WAR.”  Looks like the “This is War” promos were actually for an October relaunch of Punisher: War Zone.  No word on the creative team yet, and Frankly that will make all the difference (pun intended).  I was pretty cold on the Greg Rucka Punisher relaunch, but I caught up with the trade and it’s grown on me.  I’m not liking the “look” of the series—Frank Castle is too young and clean, and I really don’t dig the eyepatch—but the story and dialogue are up to Rucka’s usual high standards.  You should check it out.

FRED VAN LENTE’S ZOMBIES.  Fred Van Lente is one of the unsung heroes of comicbookdom.  He doesn’t write “world changing” story arcs or make world-changing character reinterpretations, but instead he steadily amasses a roster of well-written, creative titles.  He created the new Power Man, wrote the wonderful and thorough black-and-white history book “Comic Book Comics,” helped create Cowboys & Aliens and co-wrote “Incredible Hercules” with Greg Pak.  But many of his fans love his Marvel Zombies work the best.  So I’m sure you’re all psyched that he’s coming back to the series for a Halloween one-shot.

TONY DANIEL LEAVING DETECTIVE COMICS.  And all fans of good comic book writing should heave a sigh of sweet, sweet relief.  I dig his art, but his writing is hack-y in the extreme.  He’s moving on to another DC project, having been involved with Batman ever since the Grant Morrison days.  Taking over the title will be John “Chew” Layman and Jason “Batman, Inc.” Fabok.

THANOS: YEAR ONE.  Well, not exactly.  Thanos’ origin will be told in a miniseries titled “Thanos: Son of Titan” by Joe Keating and Richard Elson.  In the meantime, if you want a great Thanos miniseries, check out the 2011 mini “The Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet.”  It’s hilarious (written by Atomic Robo’s Brian Clevinger), wonderfully drawn (by Brian “Rex Mundi” Churilla), and good for all ages.  And cheap at Amazon.

BATWOMAN MEETS WONDER WOMAN.  I was a big fan of the pre-new 52 Batwoman.  It had beautiful art, brilliant layouts, and a complex, interesting story that balanced action and suspense with the development of a new character in the Batverse.  But post-52?  Not so much.  Wonder Woman, on the other hand, has become my favorite DC title.  I love the way it weaves in Greek mythology and is well-researched, and the character designs for the modern Gods are always provocative…And often funny.  But the big problem with the DCU is that from title to title, characters lack consistency.  So I’ll be interested to see how Wonder Woman fares in Batwoman.  Coming in Batwoman #13.

COMIC BOOKS IN THE COLLEGE CLASSROOM.  It’s a summer class, and it’s at University of North Texas, but it’s a start.  Professor Shaun Treat’s reading list seems nearly perfect as well, including Batman: Year One, The Dark Phoenix Saga, The Dark Knight Returns, V for Vendetta, Marvels, Promethea, Watchmen, All-Star Superman, Batwoman: Elegy, The Authority, Daredevil: Reborn, and many others.  My only issue: What?!  No Stan Lee at all?!

GRANT MORRISON’S MULTIVERSITY PROJECT.  The long planned, long delayed series may actually come out in 2013.  Morrison says it will be intricate—several, overlapping series (like he did with the brilliant 7 Soldiers) and it will help make sense of the DCU continuity. At a recent appearance, he make it sound like Rashomon: The story of the DC Universe told from multiple perspectives, across multiple universes and time periods.  Among the titles planned are books called “Pax Americana” (to be illustrated by Frank Quitely), a pulpy book called “Society of Superheroes,” “The Just” about young celebrity superheroes, a book about Shazam called “Thunder World” and “Mastermen,” featuring an alternate reality JLA that sounds a little like what he did in his amazing “JLA Earth 2” series.

MARVEL UNIVERSE VS. THE AVENGERS.  I loved (loved!) Jonathan Mayberry’s “Punisher vs. The Marvel Universe,” but I wasn’t as into his second apocalyptic future storyline, “Wolverine vs. The Marvel U.”  But he’s back again, this time focusing on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.  Hawkeye will be the focal point for the series.  High hopes for this one, which will feature art by Leandro “PunisherMAX” Fernandez.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.  We’ll see it if it bests The Avengers (either artistically or box-office wise), but the flick’s runtime is close to three hours (164 minutes).  Wow.

CULLEN BUNN ON VENOM.  No, the award-winning indie writer of The Sixth Gun isn’t taking Bane serum…He’s writing Marvel’s Venom book!  And I think this new storyline is a big improvement—Rick Remender started strong on the book, but it was getting stale.

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