The “Ultimates” team of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch teamed up for a two-part tale set during Christmas as part of their “Fantastic Four” run, which ran for 16 issues in 2008-2009.    In issues 564-565, the Fantastic Four visit Reed’s distant cousin in Scotland for their Christmas vacation.

In the highlands town of Iarmailt, there’s no crime and the town is hale and hearty.   Millar and Hitch create a beautiful Scottish countryside — but of course, things are a bit too perfect, and the tale goes from fun vacation romp to Lovecraftian horror.

Franklin and Valeria, Reed and Sue’s kids, get some good moments in this issue, and the art is simply gorgeous.  The story is a bit slight, but was probably intended as a change of pace between larger arcs. Unlike most Christmas-themed comics, these didn’t actually come out in December, but instead in February and April — but given the events of the issue, that may have been partially intentional. Further mixing up the seasons, the cover to #564 is an homage to Norman Rockwell’s painting “Thanksgiving.”

- Matt Price
Comics read in 2011: 1980.  Still to go: 31

Death of Spider-Man

Two of the architects of Marvel’s Ultimate Comics line team up for “Death of Spider-Man.”    In February, “Ultimate Spider-Man” #153 and “Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates” #1 will kick off the story.  The storyline continues in future issues of those series.

“As a group and as individuals we have made a conscious effort to create stories this year that no one has ever seen before,” said Bendis in a news release. “I am very, very proud to be a part of this storyline and very proud of Marvel for even attempting such a bold endeavor. Sit back and watch as we unveil a storyline unlike any other!!”

The release calls the story the most ambitious Ultimate story yet.

“This is the biggest, boldest thing we’ve attempted in the ten years since we kicked this line off,” Mark Millar said in the release. “This is the one thing that could be bigger than the CREATION of the Ultimate line and it’s great to be a part of it. Being part of something like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and soon you’ll all get to read the story we’ve written for you, This should be up there with the very small number of events that really mattered. This is going to be big.”

What do you think about Marvel’s announcement? Share your thoughts in the comments!

- Matt Price
Click past the cut for the full release.

Marvel is proud to announce Death of Spider-Man, the groundbreaking new story that forever changes the Ultimate Comics universe from superstar writers Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar. Kicking off with a prelude in Ultimate Spider-Man #153 and going into high-gear with Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates #1, this is the story that no comic fan can afford to miss when it all begins in February 2011 because, in the Ultimate Universe, There Are No Rules. This storyline continues in further issues of both Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates.

“As a group and as individuals we have made a conscious effort to create stories this year that no one has ever seen before,” said Bendis. “I am very, very proud to be a part of this storyline and very proud of Marvel for even attempting such a bold endeavor. Sit back and watch as we unveil a storyline unlike any other!!”

The most successful new imprint of the century, Ultimate Comics has continually pushed the limits of super hero comics and raised the bar for comic book storytelling, with Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.1 selling well over one million copies.

Millar added, “This is the biggest, boldest thing we’ve attempted in the ten years since we kicked this line off. This is the one thing that could be bigger than the CREATION of the Ultimate line and it’s great to be a part of it. Being part of something like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and soon you’ll all get to read the story we’ve written for you, This should be up there with the very small number of events that really mattered. This is going to be big.”

This February, Death of Spider-Man marks the most ambitious Ultimate comics story yet…and one that no fan will ever forget!

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #153 & #154

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

Pencils & Cover by SARA PICHELLI & DAVID LAFUENTE

Rated T+ …$3.99 each

ON-SALE IN FEBRUARY

ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS. NEW ULTIMATES  #1 (of 6)

Written by MARK MILLAR

Pencils & Cover by LEINIL YU

Variant Covers by BRYAN HITCH & FRANK CHO

Rated T+ …$3.99

ON-SALE IN FEBRUARY

Andrew Garfield pumped to play Spider-Man

Actor Andrew Garfield told MTV he’s a longtime fan of the character.

Captain America Patriot 1

“I’ve always been obsessed with that comic and that character and that symbol and everything he stands for.”

“I think he’s an important figure of mythology for every skinny young boy across the world, myself included,” he added. “Yeah, it’s a dream come true.”

Will Black Panther replace Daredevil?

Beginning this December, T’Challa of Wakanda prowls a new kind of jungle and New York City gains a very different kind of protector as The Black Panther comes to Hell’s Kitchen.

According to Marvel, With issue #513, DAREDEVIL morphs into BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR under the guidance of writer David Liss and artist Francesco Francavilla as the fallout of Shadowland causes a drastic shift in the landscape of the Marvel Universe.

Mark Millar to direct superhero movie

Mark Millar has plans to direct a superhero movie. As revealed on IGN UK, Millar is directing the independent superhero feature “Miracle Park.”

The movie is being filmed entirely on handheld cameras, and is described as sharing an aesthetic with films like “Paranormal Activity” and “The Last Exorcism.” It also promises lots of violence. A trailer is promised for January 2011.

Also included in this week’s Planet 46 Comics Podcast are reviews of Captain America: Patriot 1, Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine #3, Mystery Society #3 and Brightest Day #10.

- Matt Price

Deadline Hollywood announced over the weekend that 20th Century Fox has acquired the movie rights to Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s “Nemesis,” and that Tony Scott is attached to direct.

This certainly appears to be a big deal for Millar, though there’s often quite a path between a property getting optioned and being shown on theater screens.  However, since both “Wanted” and “Kick-Ass,” based on Millar properties, have successfully made it to the silver screen and did reasonably well, I’m sure there’s some heat on anything Millar puts out at this point.

What do you think? Are you reading the “Nemesis” comic? Are you interested in a “Nemesis” film?

- Matt Price

John Romita Jr., left, with Mark Millar

Known for his gritty, street-level artistic characterizations of Marvel Comics characters such as Daredevil, John Romita Jr. brings the same touch — grounded in a real-world sensibility — to “Kick-Ass,” a comic book series featuring a teen with no superpowers who decides to put on a suit and combat crime.

The comic-book series was adapted to a film by Matthew Vaughn (“Stardust”), which is out on DVD this week. Romita drew the comic-book series, which was written by Mark Millar (“Civil War,” “Wanted”). The pair previously worked together on “Wolverine,” on a storyline called “Enemy of the State.” The way Romita tells a story is what led Millar to choose to create this particular story with him, Romita said in an interview with The Oklahoman.

John Romita Jr.

“(Millar) calls me ‘Martin Scorsese of comics,’” Romita said. “It’s a true compliment because he thinks I have a gritty nature to my storytelling. … He knew that this series was going to be based in New York, and immediately that’s where one of the connections came from.”

Romita said having one of his creations turned into a film is a great testament to the hard work it took to bring the project to life. And while he finds it very gratifying on a personal level for his creator-owned project to have seen such success, he also still enjoys working on the classic Marvel Comics characters. Romita has worked primarily for Marvel since breaking into the industry in the late 1970s, and his father, John Romita Sr., was one of the architects of the Marvel Universe in the 1960s.

“I’m of a generation where I worked with Stan Lee, occasionally, and I did work while Jack Kirby’s work was being published, and my father’s work, and John Buscema,” Romita said. “So, to work on characters that Stan Lee did with my father and Jack Kirby, I still get a thrill out of doing characters that were created by those guys.”

Presently, Romita is the artist for Marvel Comics’ “The Avengers,” featuring Thor, Captain America and Iron Man. And he’s also working on “Kick-Ass 2.” Despite the success of the first series, Romita said he didn’t feel any particular pressure when beginning work on the sequel, which he said likely will be adapted into a sequel film, as well.

“The only scary part of this is to make it a better quality story,” Romita said.

“Whereas people would be intimidated by doing a second arc where people are going to be paying attention to you, I embrace the extra scrutiny; I really do. So, I’m looking forward to it.”

- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Comic book writer Mark Millar sees the second film based on one of his comic-book series hit the big screen this weekend with “Kick-Ass,” a film partially inspired by the “real-life superheroes” trend, in which everyday people dress as superheroes and patrol the streets of their towns.

“Wanted,” the first film based on a Millar comic book, was released in 2008.

The new film stars Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski, an everyday high school student who decides to become a superhero without any powers or special abilities.

The comic book series on which the film is based was drawn by John Romita Jr. (“Daredevil”) and was published by Marvel’s Icon imprint, for creator-owned comics.

“This isn’t a fictional Gotham or Opal City or whatever. He isn’t up against any kind of animal-themed super-villain and there’s no robots or mutants or aliens,” Millar said in a 2007 interview with the Web site Newsarama. “This is a normal person in the real world putting on a mask and getting into trouble. As unbelievably simple as that sounds, I don’t think that’s ever been done before.”

The complete Icon series has been collected in a hardcover edition that retails for $24.99. The comic book series and collection are suggested for mature audiences.

Fans who want to dig further into the creation of the project can check out the Titan Books behind-the-scenes book “Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie,” which features interviews with Millar, Romita Jr., film director Matthew Vaughn and others behind the comic book and movie.

“’Kick-Ass’ is my love letter to superhero comics,” Millar says in the behind-the-scenes book. “And I’ve taken little parts of my own life and the lives of friends and shoved it all in there to make the characters as real as possible.”

Screenplay writer Jane Goldman said in the book about the film that it was important to make Dave not a comedy nerd, but a normal, relatable kid.

“We wanted to take that more modern attitude that he’s not a loser, he’s just a normal kid,” Goldman said. “He loves comics, and, as I think we all do at that age, longs for adventure. But he doesn’t always think the consequences through.”

The film also stars Christopher Mintz-Plasse (“Superbad”), Nicolas Cage (“Leaving Las Vegas”) and Chloe Moretz (“[500] Days of Summer”).

- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Marvel has made single issues of “Kick-Ass,” by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., available for download on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch via the Comixology, Iverse and Panefly applications. PSP users can download directly to their device.

“I have an ancient cell phone given to me by a relative that’s so old it can’t take pictures so this tech is so far away from me it might as well be science fiction,” said Kick-Ass writer and co-creator Mark Millar  in a news release. “But I read about it on Comic Book Resources and Marvel.com– the guys seemed excited so consider me excited by osmosis. More readers and new readers is always a good thing.”

John Romita Jr, artist and co-creator of Kick-Ass, said in a release:  “I’m excited about these advances in technology that I have been hearing about for, what seems like ten years. Now it has arrived, and all I can think of is that it advances the state of ‘comic books’ in that it will direct people to the source material. I believe this will cement the tangible material, the comics themselves, into the hands and minds of future ‘young’ generations! It always comes down to the quality of writing and the sequential art. Holding a comic and turning the page for more will forever be a novelty, even with advanced technology as an option.”

The “Kick-Ass” film, based on the comics, will open in theaters on Friday.

- Matt Price

Marvel Comics has announced a second printing for Nemesis #1, a creator-owned title in Marvel’s “Icon” line.  “Nemesis” is written by Mark Millar and drawn by Steve McNiven, the team behind “Civil War.”  The second printing will be on final order cutoff on April 1, for an on-sale date of April 28.

- Matt Price

RICHARDSON, Texas – Yancy Butler, who starred as NYPD detective Sara Pezzini on the TNT drama “Witchblade,” will take on another comic-book role, in an upcoming film based on a comic book by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.

Butler appeared at the Dallas Comic-Con in Richardson, Texas, last weekend, and appeared on a panel hosted by Devin Pike of redcarpetcrash.com. She talked about her career and current projects with the gathered fans.

“I was asked to do a small cameo in a Nicolas Cage film called ‘Kick-Ass,’ that a lot of you might know.” Butler said. “It’s based on a comic book, at the time we did it there were only four of those comics … the nemesis to Nicolas Cage is a gangster, and I played the moll, his wife.”

The movie features children who want to become superheroes, even though they have no superpowers. It’s a dark comedy which is extremely violent.

The film was directed by Matthew Vaughn and was picked up this week for distribution by Lionsgate. Butler described a scene shown to her by Vaughn while she was working on the film.

“Nicolas Cage’s daughter (in the film), who wants to be a superhero basically, climbs up this gangster’s back … shoots him from below, and it turns into a comic book, where you see this blood splat like you would, but in pink,” Butler said. “And you could see through the hole in his head. It’s completely fascinating.”

Also upcoming for Butler is a Syfy channel film currently titled “Wolvesbayne.” She plays Lilith, who according to some legends was the first wife of Adam.

“They got rid of her, because she was just horrible and really corrupt,” Butler said. “And (in this film) they made Lilith the queen vampire.”

Butler compared working in film and television, as she has experience with both.

“You have a lot more time to prepare everything for a film. The role, the script, the costumes,” she said. “In television, I liken it to the ‘I Love Lucy’ episode with the chocolate conveyor belt, and they’re shoving chocolate in their mouth as quickly as they can … that’s television. It can’t go fast enough, it’s just this beast that goes so quickly because if you don’t have something you can put on the air, you’re looking at dead air space.”

“Witchblade” was originally planned to be a TV movie, but it was so successful, that it was expanded to a series, which ran for two seasons. The entire series is now available on DVD. Butler said she was aware of trying to keep two different fan bases entertained with the property.

“It was hard to straddle that line making sure we were making fans of the comic book happy … and also establishing a fanbase of people who were unfamiliar with the comic book,” she said.

Butler said she enjoyed her time as Sara Pezzini, and would enjoy a return to the character if such a project came together.

“I had a blast. It was a character that I really felt like the writers and producers and I were all collaborating,” she said.

By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

James MacAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, a downtrodden loser recruited into a secret cadre of assassins in “Wanted,” out today in movie theaters. The film is based on the comic-book series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones. “Wanted” was published by Top Cow as a comic-book series and is now available from Top Cow in graphic novel format.

“It’s basically about a young guy, Wesley Gibson, that is kind of an everyday schlub, works in a cubicle farm and doesn’t really do much with his life,” Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik said.

“One day he is approached by this mysterious woman named the Fox, who tells him that his father was one of the great assassins — probably the greatest assassin in the world. And that he and a group of other super villains secretly ruled the world behind kind of a veil of normalcy, and that he’s basically inherited his spot in the secret fraternity of super villains. From there, the proverbial crap hits the fan and Wesley has to go from being a zero to — I don’t know that I’d call it a hero, but definitely a guy who takes charge of his life.”

The comic-book “Wanted” has costumed super villains and alternate realities, while the film, for all its over-the-top elements, is somewhat more grounded in the real world.

“It was one of those rare instances that there was such a buzz on the property as it was being developed that we actually sold it around the time the second issue was getting put together,” Sablik said. “Which is one of the reasons that the movie kind of diverges from the comic book a little bit. Because at the time Universal picked up the property, the comic was still being finished. So the screenwriters had to take the inspiration and the beginnings and what they knew about the story and develop it from there.”

Sablik said “Wanted” was a good fit for Top Cow’s line.

“We tend to do kind of dark books, things with either with a dark sense of humor, or a horror or supernatural bent to it. It seemed like a good fit for us.”

Two of Top Cow’s other major properties are also making waves in other media. “Darkness,” about a young mobster who inherits a primal power, was a platinum-selling video game in 2007. And “Witchblade,” featuring a New York police detective with a supernatural gauntlet, is being developed for a 2009 film.

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

“Wanted,” directed by Timur Bekmambetov of the “Night Watch” films, is a visually arresting, over-the-top, paean to violence. Based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones, the film takes a different slant than does the source material — but manages to improve on it.

Wesley Gibson (James MacAvoy) is a down-on-his luck loser in a dead-end job. He knows his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend, but he can’t motivate himself to do anything about it. Wesley is sleepwalking through his life, until he meets the Fox (Angelina Jolie).

She tells Wesley that his father, whom he never knew, was one of the world’s greatest assassins. And another of those assassins is after Wesley.

This begins the slam-bang action portion of “Wanted,” as Wesley finds himself introduced to the Fraternity, a group of assassins who call themselves weavers of fate.

Led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman), these weavers follow mysterious assassination directives, aimed at making the world a better place. “Kill one, save a thousand,” explains the Fox.

The storyline has twists and turns and double-crosses, but the visuals are what makes “Wanted.” Bekmambetov channels Tarantino by way of John Woo, but adds dozens of his own touches. The only off-note is the dialogue.

Some is lifted directly from the comics, but other scenes are just f-bombs dropped on anyone who might be nearby.

Still, this is what an adrenaline-filled action movie should be — a darkly comic vision whose flaws are obscured by the film’s unyielding pace.

Matthew Price

MOVIE REVIEW

“Wanted”

R 1:48 3 stars

Starring: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie

(For strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality.)

I like Mark Millar. I liked his work on the The Ultimates. I liked his work on Wanted. I like his new book, Marvel 1985.

It’s easy to like those books, because they’re all kind of the same. What if superheroes and villains lived in the real world? That’s what Millar writes and he does a good job at it. It’s no Watchmen, which took a less personal and more geopolitical look at the same idea, but it’s good.

Marvel 1985 and Wanted are particularly similar in the idea that the villains are winners. In Wanted, analogues of DC and Marvel bad guys have already won. In Marvel 1985, the Marvel villains come to our Earth (though, not actually our Earth, since I kind of remember 1985 without Dr. Doom and Red Skull) to take over.

It’s all shown through the eyes of Toby, a teen-age protagonist who is drawn a lot younger, and it gives the story an air of “is-it-really-happening?” that, frankly, kind of annoys me. Maybe I’ve seen too many stories devolve into dreams or imagined tales that I’d like to see something more solid.

Regardless of my nitpicking, Marvel 1985 is a good book and full of funny moments and hidden treats. (Hey, kids! Find Ultron’s head!) This wasn’t on my list to pick up before, but I was won over by the first issue and I’ll be sure to collect the rest.

– Greg Elwell