Fans have gotten to see Spidey swing around and punch on a few bug-lookin' robots in Activision and Beenox's short trailers and concept art from this summer's The Amazing Spider-Man movie videogame, but today's reveal of the first in-game screen shot of the game gives a little more insight into what players will be seeing when the free-roaming action title arrives in stores. It may be a little early to predict much about the game based on one image, but anybody who played the almost resoundingly negatively received Spider-Man 3 tie-in can conclude that this release will be so, so much better. Just look at those colors!

Let's be honest, here: this entire post exists solely to facilitate the publication of this incredible photograph of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, as he will appear in this summer's The Avengers. After the cut there are some new images of Jackson as well as Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, all of them engaged in pensive gazing and whatnot. There are jokes to be made and factoids to convey, but the truth is that nothing in the world matters today except for this photograph of Nick Fury.

If you're like me, in that you love both Achewood and delicious food, we have some good news for you: The Portland Mercury has announced that Achewood creator Chris Onstad will be taking over as their resident food critic. Finally, the citizens of Oregon will be able to know where to get the best Breast Man cocktail, and which local restaurant offers the best in Nachos Galacticos and Crispy Stellas.

You know how when someone you're talking to makes a horrificly offensive racist comment and you immediately tell them to watch their mouth (or smack them or what have you...)? Well, I want you to do that about Piracy. Call them a fucking c**khead. Tell them that they're singly responsible for ruining the comic book industry (or the film industry or whatever.) Folks, the ship is sinking and we all need to stand up and fight.

I wish more people wrote science fiction like Carla Speed McNeil's Finder. I love spending time in McNeil's futuristic world, where brilliant ideas whizz by at lightning speed while the story stays clearly centered on the often mundane affairs of her characters. Jenn Manley Lee's webcomic Dicebox (occasionally NSFW), whose first volume Wander is now available in print, strikes a similar balance and adds some intriguing mysteries to the mix. Dicebox tracks Molly and Griffen, two migrant workers living in the distant future, as they hop from planet to planet looking for work.

A regular contributor to the Spitballin' collective, there's not a lot artist Michael Walsh won't try using his blend of digital and traditional illustration methods. Longtime comic (especially superhero) fans might sense a little Jamie McKelvie, a little Declan Shalvey and some Chris Samnee influence in Walsh's work, which is a wonderful thing when observing his take on Blacksad, M.O.D.O.K., Josie (of the Pussycats), Link, Fox McCloud, the Rocketeer and a sweet version of Dragon Ball Z's Piccolo. Scope out some of Walsh's latest pieces after the cut.

As part of a film school assignment at Turkey's Bahçeşehir University, director Dogan Can Gundogdu teamed up with animator Gunisigi Cihangir to create an opening title sequence for The Dark Knight Rises, the forthcoming Batman film by Christopher Nolan. Featuring extreme closeups of newspaper headlines and creepy liquids and backed with music by Massive Attack, the end result is something that is perhaps more reminiscent of the moody title sequence to David Fincher's SE7EN than what we typically see in Nolan's films (and obviously this breaks completely with the title continuity of Nolan's Batman films, each of which begins with a haunting piece of animation and ends with a spartan credits design) but the presentation looks great for student work and it does seem they got the font right.

Here at ComicsAlliance, we value our readership and are always open to what the masses of Internet readers have to say. That's why every week, Senior Writer Chris Sims puts his comics culture knowledge to the test as he responds to your reader questions!


Q: What did Superman Returns get right, and what did it get wrong? -- @GentlemanMonstr

A: Earlier this week, I said on Twitter that Superman Returns was the worst thing that ever happened to America. I'll admit that that might be an exaggeration, but if it is, it's a slight one. It's unquestionably the most disappointing movie I've ever seen, based on a wrongheaded idea that tries to simultaneously deconstruct and rebuild a character, failing at both and making an amazing waste of potential out of a genuinely good cast. In fact, it was so crushingly bad that I haven't seen it since I walked out of the theater.

So the hell with it. Let's talk about Rumble in the Bronx instead.

For awhile there it seemed like Box Art Mega Man (you know, the ugly dude with the ray gun who looked like Captain Power from Mega Man 1) was poised to reclaim pop culture prominence, but then Mega Man Universe got canceled and it was back to obscurity... until now! The Yellow/Baby Blue Bomber will be back as a playable fighter in the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita versions of Street Fighter X Tekken come March in all his awful splendor. Joining him is Infamous and Infamous 2 star Cole MacGrath, plus Namco's legendary Pac-Man. Box Art Mega Man hasn't gotten quite as much direct comic book love in the Mega Man ongoing from Archie as, say, Cole has from DC Comics, so it's extra nice to see the fugly fellow get some videogame love. See Box Art Mega Man, Cole and Pac-Man in action past the jump.

There must be something in the water. No sooner does the comics internet settle down from the commotion caused by DC Comics' new logo rollout than Portland, Oregon's Oni Press announces that it is revamping its look as well.

With a host of projects in development for other media – like The Sixth Gun TV series at Syfy and Marc Guggenheim's Resurrection being optioned by Universal – as well as signing with the William Morris Agency last summer, (a move which netted them a first-look deal with CBS) Oni is poised to branch out in new directions beyond the comics and graphic novels it has been known for since launching in 1997. If there was ever a time when it made sense to update Oni's brand, it's now. So let's take a look at the new identity system and figure out what works, what doesn't and how it could be improved.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists and/or specific bodies of work, but there's just so much great work on sites like like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and other countless blogs that we've created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the virtually countless pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the digital media landscape. Some of it's new, some of it's old, some of it's created by working professionals, some of it's created by talented fans, and some of it's endearingly stupid. All of it's awesome.

Cars: In The Avengers movie universe, Tony Stark's bullet-proof Acura costs a measly $9,198,000.00. [Collider]

Gaming: Contrary to earlier plans, it seems Netflix won't be renting videogames after all. [USA Today]

TV: Powers co-creator Brian Michael Bendis says he and Michael Avon Oeming's crime series is still in the game for a live action adaptation on FX. [Spinoff]