DC Comics, the more senior half of the Big Two, announced that they are also going to be diving in to the realm of digital distribution, and doing so even more aggressively than Marvel. DC will be creating a iThing App, as well as partnering with Comixology.com and the PlayStation Network to bring comic books straight to your PSP, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or desktop computer.  From The Source:

“At DC Comics, it has been a top priority that DC forges a meaningful, forward-looking digital strategy,” said Jim Lee, Co-Publisher, DC Comics. “As both a comic book creator and Co-Publisher, it was incredibly important that our plan includes not only creator incentive payments, but also an innovative component that supports comic shop owners. We see digital as an opportunity to grow our entire business.”

Digital distribution that supports brick and mortar stores?  People keep saying this, and we keep wincing.

On Wednesday, online comics “library” HTMLcomics was shut down and had its servers confiscated by the FBI working in tandem with the U.S. Department of Justice and Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Bongo Comics, Archie Comics, Conan Properties Int’l LLC, Mirage Studios Inc., and United Media. Actually the press release simply states that the publishers involved in reporting the copyright infringement “include” the eight companies mentioned above.

As Robot 6 says:

It seems to be the first time that comics publishers have banded together like this to take down a site, rather than just sending out cease-and-desist notices, but it also may be unique. The owner of the site, Gregory Steven Hart, operated out in the open and made no attempt to conceal what he was doing; indeed, he seems to be convinced he was running a legal enterprise.

It’s official: Matthew Vaughn, director of Kick-Ass and Stardust, is at the helm of X-Men: First Class, the reboot of the X-Men movie franchise. This new prequel film (a long the same world-exploring lines as Wolverine: Origins) will “chart the epic beginning of the X-Men saga,” which probably means Professor X and Magneto as young rebellious allegory-for-civil-rights-leaders.

This dashes our dreams of watching a movie where the X-Men sit at the front of an airplane for two and a half hours, enjoying complementary drinks.

Read on...

It is worth remembering that while you can pick up a lot of free comics on Free Comic Book Day, the holiday does not mean that everything in the store is free. This subtle nuance was apparently lost on one Australian man, who tried to make off with a $160 (in Aussie money) volume of the X-Men Omnibus.

He was stopped in his tracks by, I kid you not, Spider-Man, The Flash, and two Jedi.

As far as superheroes go, the big studios tend to favor the ones that come with the most CGI, the biggest explosions, and the most renown. It’s easier to get a studio to pour billions of dollars into a movie if the average person on the street has heard of the main character, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, or the X-Men, for example. Big heroes, for big money.

According to CHUD.com, Marvel is experimenting to see if this is a true x=y equation: maybe smaller money could work for smaller characters. We don’t mean like the Atom or Henry Pym -

Well, actually we do.

Read on...

Pajiba reports that according to their sources, Joss Whedon is not only in final talks to direct the Avengers movie, he will also be writing the screenplay, and will be given the opportunity to do a final pass on script for the upcoming Captain America movie.

Hugh Jackman is a jack-of-all-trades sort of actor, as comfortable playing the action hero in a modern special effects blockbuster as he is playing the lead in a period musical.  The best thing about this (I mean, aside from good acting) is that he’s done a lot of period films.  He’s also the live action face of one of the Marvel Universe‘s nearly indestructible probably immortal badasses: Wolverine.

This lead me inevitably to the conclusion that you could pretend that some of his period films were also about Wolverine.  Secretly.

You couldn’t call it canonical, since movie Wolverine spends his entire post-X-factor life with his half-brother Sabertooth (until the 1970′s or so).  But you could call it amusing.

Here’s the Netflix queue for your fanfiction adventure:

Edwin Jarvis is a nearly fifty year old Marvel Comics character, first created as Tony Stark‘s butler who eventually became caretaker to the Avengers Mansion, making him the “Alfred” (just so DC reader’s have something to latch on to) of the Marvel Universe’s biggest, most changeable superhero team.  Jarvis also appeared in the Iron Man movie, as the AI that ran Tony Stark’s house and gave him advice on the more mundane operations of the Iron Man suit.

But you don’t have to be a billionaire (or a Federation Captain) to talk to your apartment and have it obey you. Chad Barraford is doing it right now.

Not satisfied by the three seconds of Tony Stark skydiving in the Iron Man 2 trailer? Unenchanted by Pepper Pots‘ feistyness? Would you like a whole bunch of gratuitous Ironette dancing? Comic Book Resources has you covered.

For the spoiler wary, this clip is just an extended version of what we saw in the trailer, but leaving in the bits of the movie just having fun with Iron Man flight and, well… boobs. The only dialogue in it also appears in the trailer.

Hoverball cat can also make vertical landings. Hoverball cat is operational. Hoverball cat is not equipped with sheilds? Well then… buckle up!

Here are some other things that Hovercat reminds us of.