First issues are a challenge that the superhero comics industry still struggles to get right, which is weird when you consider just how many of these things they put out. It's as if a collective decision was made to misinterpret the old adage, "every issue is somebody's first," to mean that first issues should read like they're any other issues. Through the experience of DC's New 52 and ...

During the ReEvolution panel at New York Comic-Con, Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso hinted at plans for a couple of new female-led comics, one of which he promised would be a "kick-ass team book." Today Marvel formally unveiled that book; Fearless Defenders, by Cullen Bunn (Sixth Gun) and Will Sliney (Star Wars: The Clone Wars). All-female team books have always been a slightly awkward ...

A great comic book cover is both an advertisement and a work of art. It is both a statement and an invitation. Sometimes a great cover conveys character, sometimes mood, sometimes moment. Great covers can pastiche the classics or pay tribute to the past, or they can strive to show us something new. Great covers always show us a glimpse of somewhere else, on a canvas no bigger than a window ...

Earlier this year Fantagraphics published an extraordinary collection of LGBT comics from the past four decades. No Straight Lines brings together comics from the early days of the alternative and underground press, stories from the era of the AIDS crisis, contemporary webcomics dealing with identity and gender issues and much more in one volume. The result is a fascinating examination of ...

Halloween is the time when everyone becomes a cosplayer. That's especially true at the annual Halloween costume party hosted by comic store Silver Snail, which have become legendary in Toronto. Everyone wears a costume. Almost everyone makes an effort. And most of the costumes are super-nerdy. A lot of them are comics-based, but you'll also see costumes based on movies, TV shows, video games, ...

I've been to a lot of Marvel Comics conventions panels this year. Only three major conventions -- San Diego's Comic-Con Internation, Toronto's Fan Expo, and the New York Comic Con -- but a lot of Marvel panels. They're usually boisterous affairs full of good humor and happy hucksterism. Occasionally the company's former Editor-in-Chief and current Chief Creative OfficerJoe Quesada insists on ...

The launch of two new books saw the return of Marvel's cosmic titles at yesterday's Marvel Cup O' Joe panel at New York Comic-Con -- but we were told not to think of them as "cosmic" anymore. The panel led by Marvel chief creative officer Joe Quesada also featured many of Marvel's bigwigs, including editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, publisher Dan Buckley and Marvel TV head honcho Jeph Loeb, most of ...

A new creative team and new direction for a relaunched Secret Avengers book was the headline announcement at Marvel's Avengers panel at New York Comic Con on Saturday -- but there were also some other secrets revealed, including the names of three additional members of the sprawling non-secret Avengers line-up. Writers Jonathan Hickman, Dennis Hopeless, Kieron Gillen and Rick Remender were ...

Friday's major Marvel panels at New York Comic-Con were light on announcements - perhaps an inevitable consequence of the way Marvel has been drip-feeding news about its Marvel NOW launches over the past several weeks, as well as the con's proximity to the conclusion of the Avengers Vs. X-Men event that ate the summer. Despite the lack of major news there were a few revelations and ...

Somewhere between the chaotic wall-to-wall obstacle course that is Comic-Con International in San Diego and the transcendent tranquility of MorrisonCon in Las Vegas, Reed Exhibitions' New York Comic Con is one of the United States' most trafficked events for comic books, film, television, games, and all sorts of awesome things of a similar nature. The number of discussion panels, parties, ...