I hate to be a part of an ever-growing, and ever-annoying trend, but yes – I blog, therefore I tweet. All is not lost, however, since many, many comics writers and artists have found their way onto the Twitter highway. Have I missed any? Drop me a line to let me know. Click any of the links below to follow any of these writers/artists:

Agent M (Ryan Penagos, Marvel.com editor/writer)

Andy Diggle

Bryan Lee O’Malley

Brian Michael Bendis

Brian Reed

Chris Eliopoulos

Ed Brubaker

Geoff Johns

Jimmy Palmiotti

Joe Hill

Joe Quesada

Kevin Smith

Mark Evanier

Mark Waid

Matt Fraction

Neil Gaiman

Rob Liefeld

Robert Kirkman

Todd Nauck

Tom Brevoort

Tom Peyer

Warren Ellis

I’m a Mark Bagley snob. I admit it. I just don’t care for the man’s art unless it’s on one specific book – Ultimate Spider-Man. This is strange, considering I didn’t think much of his work when he pencilled Amazing Spider-Man in the early 90s. There is something that happened to his pencils when he teamed up with Brian Michael Bendis that helped them transcend their overwhelming mediocrity and sameness. I think it has much to do with the quality of Bendis’ scripts and the fact that the cast of characters is primarily made up of teenagers. Bagley is able to capture youth extremely well, so his teen versions of Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, etc, were exceptional. He has since moved on from Ultimate Spidey, and that’s a crying shame. As a result of his move, DC Comics has editorially decided that Bagley is the “it” penciller of the moment. I assume this is as a result of his recent work on Trinity, a series I gave up within the first ten issues. Trinity’s scripts were more problematic than the art (what has happened to Kurt Buseik???), but Bagley’s takes on DC’s big three left me distinctly underwhelmed.

Now, Mark Bagley has been handed one of DC’s flagship titles – the JLA. There’s a good side and a bad side to this move. The good side is that Bagley has been teamed with one of my favorite writers, James Robinson, so there’s the possibility that a new version of that old Bendis/Bagley chemistry can be ignited. The bad side is that I didn’t care for Bagley’s versions of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in Trinity, and I have no reason to believe they will significantly change for the JLA. I’ll give it a shot, at least to see what Robinson can do with the JLA. Maybe DC’s editors won’t handcuff his ideas like they did with Dwayne McDuffie.

Via www.toybender.com :

Fans of the Marvel Universe line (me) may look forward to seeing or most likely not seeing Wave 4 revision one at their local toy shoppe. Not only does it offer some of the more popular characters in the line that you may have missed before, but there’s some nice newer ones as well. May I direct you toward the awesomeness that is Moon Knight? Sweet chickens in heat, I’m going to need to get my hands on him. I’ve always been a fan of Moon Knight, but not really a dedicated reader of his comics until a few years ago. Even if you don’t like the character or what they’ve done with him, you’ve got to love that sweet ass costume.

Other figures I am on the look out for include black Spider-Man as well as the Hand Ninja, both of which I’ve passed on already. Seriously, the combination of not having steady income and these things being around eight dollars makes these purchasing decisions a lot harder. I know I’m a repeating parrot on this issue, but seriously eight dollars is too damned much for a three inch piece of plastic. I’m guessing that army building is a bit on the decline these days due to price and the economy. Anyway, I’m glad that I still have a little time before good old Captain America classic version is available.

[From Marvel Universe Wave 4 Revision 1 is Coming to Town]

Iron Man 2 is now shooting at Raleigh Studios (AKA Marvel Studios for all intents and purposes) in Manhattan Beach, CA.  As luck would have it, I got a chance to visit Tony Stark’s house (hizouse?) today and I gotta tell you, that is one impressive set.  I’d happily live there even with it parked on a soundstage wrapped in bluescreen.  There is that big hole blasted out of the ceiling that I’d want fixed first but other than that, I’m ready to move in.  Second unit was shooting so there wasn’t a lot to see but I got a chance to eyeball the Mark II armor in person and I got a glimpse of what appeared to be the Mark IV.  Judging from the pic above there must at least be a Mark IV in the new movie.  What do you think?

Friday’s premier of the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie prompted critic Roger Ebert to write:

Am I being disrespectful to this material? You bet. It is Hugh Jackman’s misfortune that when they were handing out superheroes, he got Wolverine, who is for my money low on the charisma list. He never says anything witty, insightful or very intelligent; his utterances are limited to the vocalization of primitive forces: anger, hurt, vengeance, love, hate, determination. There isn’t a speck of ambiguity. That Wolverine has been voted the No. 1 comic hero of all time must be the result of a stuffed ballot box.

Pretty harsh (the review doesn’t get any more complimentary as it goes) but it raises a legitimate issue. Why IS Wolverine so popular? Long before the idea of film franchises lit the eyes of Avi Arad, Wolvie was supremely popular among comic book fans. The team of John Byrne and Chris Claremont made the character an icon, and the Wolverine mini-series featuring art by Frank Miller cemented the deal. That said, here are our top reasons why Logan/Patch/James Howlett/Wolverine has such lasting appeal:

• The Beast with a Heart of Gold: And no – by “Beast” I don’t mean Hank McCoy. By now, everyone (and I do mean everyone) knows how Stan Lee transformed the comic book industry by creating characters who were more complicated than the standard 1960s fare. By the late 70s/early 80s, however, these once “fresh and complex” characters were becoming flat and lifeless once again, as the Marvel formula for superheroes became the de facto standard. Enter Chris Claremont and John Byrne, whose revitalized X-Men series ushered in a new age for comic book character development. If Lee added a second dimension to characters (rudimentary motivations for behaviors, guilt complexes, etc), Claremont and Byrne began adding a third. Their X-Men were friends first, teammates second, comic book superheroes third. By allowing characters to interact on a personal level, readers began to relate to these once iconic and godlike figures. Chief among these was Wolverine, whose tortured soul and misunderstood status appealed to the often-outcast comic book geek. Here was a sensitive character (who was physically short and often called “runt” by others) who could do more than just stand up for himself. Here was a more accessible Clark Kent for the masses. While less physically strong than Supes, he was nonetheless invulnerable/indestructible, and carried a six-pack of switchblades as well.
    
• The Past Shrouded in Mystery: It’s no secret that comic book fans love a good mystery, and Wolverine’s unknown origin has proven to be a cash cow for Marvel again and again. Bits and pieces have trickled out over the past thirty years, and not all of them have been consistent with one another. Still, Marvel was able to keep interest high in this character’s background for decades before finally revealing all (or at least most) with the Jenkins/Kubert Origin mini-series. It remains to be seen, however, if interest will continue to remain as high now that so much is known about the character. Is Wolverine inherently compelling as a character, or only when his background is largely unknown?

• The Super-Powers: Part Batman, Part Superman: The final part of the equation is that Wolverine is an intriguing amalgam of DC’s two iconic characters: Superman and Batman. The Superman connection has already been mentioned earlier in this article, but it bears mentioning again that comic book fans, notorious underdogs that they are (or were, depending on your view of the recent influx of comics-related culture into the mainstream), easily gravitate to characters who are physically impervious to harm. And, unlike Superman, Wolverine actually feels the pain of his injuries. He simply doesn’t die from them. As for Batman…well, no, Logan isn’t a normal fellow like Bruce Wayne (though “normal” is a relative term – how many multi-billionaires with murdered parents do you know?), but his brooding nature, coupled with his troubled past, gives him a strong connection to Bats. And while Wolverine doesn’t have a utility belt, don’t those adamantium-laced claws and bones count as gadgets of a sort? Is it any wonder, then, that a character with many of the appealing traits of two of the most enduring comic book characters should also garner popularity?

I agree with Mr. Ebert on a number of his points, as there are certainly weaknesses in Wolverine’s appeal, and hopefully I’ll be able to address those in the future. At this point it remains to be seen if the film will be as successful as initially hoped. Do comic book and movie fans of the character and franchise really want all of these mysteries revealed after all?