thunderbolts

The original Thunderbolts (several of them anyway) are back in Thunderbolts #1, with their new leader Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier. MACH-V, Atlas, Moonstone, and the Fixer are joined by Barnes and another new member, who we know nothing about except that she looks like a ghostly little girl on Mark Bagley's variant cover. Adding the Winter Soldier to the Thunderbolts actually makes a lot of sense, given his own history as an amoral assassin. After all, the team (once Baron Zemo's out of the picture) is all about redemption. The new Thunderbolts is written by Jim Zubkavich with art by Jon Malin, and the first issue comes out May 4th. Check out a preview of the debut now.

Next week, Captain Marvel finally makes it into Lego Marvel's Avengers. Not only that, but unlike many of the characters already included in the massive roster for TT Games' latest Marvel adventure, she'll be getting her own level pack as well. If you count mobile titles, this is not the first time Carol Danvers will be a playable character in a video game, but her addition to the roster of Lego Marvel's Avengers is the closest thing many of us will get to a true Captain Marvel video game... at least until she finally joins the Avengers and someone figures out how to make a great movie-licensed video game again. The Captain Marvel level pack will also introduce the likes of Kang The Conqueror, Magnitron, Moonstone, Poundcakes, Tic, Warbird, and Wonder Man. This is quite possibly the only time characters like Poundcakes and Tic will ever be considered for playable characters in a video game, and again shows just how deep of a well TT is willing to dive into to bolster Lego Marvel's Avengers roster. Carol's skycycle and Helen Cobb's plane will be added too, vehicles all control like melty sticks of butter in the game. Why would I ever use one when I can just fly everywhere?

This week saw the release of the prologue issue to Marvel’s spring event Avengers Standoff, in the form Avengers Standoff: Welcome To Pleasant Hill #1 by Nick Spencer, Mark Bagley, Scott Hanna and Paul Mounts. The event has been touted for a long time now, but heading into this first issue it was still rather unclear exactly what Standoff was going to be about. Things are a lot clearer following the release of Welcome To Pleasant Hill, which is a moody mystery hidden behind a sunny suburban smile. Be warned this review contains meaty spoilers for the first salvo in this event as we unpack the events of the issue and its killer cliffhanger. In other words, if you want to know what Standoff is actually about before you investigate further, we're going to do our best to tell you.

Marvel has revealed the full line-up of the new Thunderbolts, as well as the book's creative team of writer Jim Zub and artist Jon Malin. This is Zub's first superhero book, but he's already done plenty of great work on Samurai Jack, Skullkickers, Dungeons & Dragons, and his current image series Wayward. Malin, meanwhile, has previously handled art on Youngblood, New Warriors, and Cable & Deadpool.

Today is the birthday of Kurt Busiek, one of comics' most storied and influential creators, born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1960. A thoughtful approach to continuity has long been Busiek's stock-in-trade as. One of his first major contributions to comics was to solve the problem of bringing Jean Grey back to life. As controversial as the resurrection was --- arguably as controversial as her death in the first place --- Busiek's solution was considered and weighted with potential, recasting Jean as a stranger to her own friends and family and carefully making use of established story details with a new spin.

We like diversity here at ComicsAlliance. We've said it before, and we'll say it again. We're also big fans of superheroes, and that probably goes without saying. We especially like diversity with our superheroes. Diversity broadens the genre's reach, encourages respect and understanding of people's differences, and gives minority audiences more chances to see themselves in fiction, and those are

Whether she's applying her artistic skills to expanding the land of Equestria, or illustrating Chris Sims riding on the shoulders of Batman, we're big fans of Katie Cook. Known primarily for her work on IDW's My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cook is a versatile cartoonist, whose illustrations can bring a lightness and joy to any project. And that's exactly why Marvel commissioned Cook to do An

Hasbro had a lot to show Marvel fans this past weekend at Comic-Con, including new figures from almost all of its Universe, Legends and various movie lines in 3.75" and 6" scales.

The final chunk of 2013 should be a boon to Thunderbolts fans and, um, Undeadheads? who dig Minimates. Diamond Select Toys and Art Asylum will release a special Marvel Minimates Zombie Villains Box Set in October, followed by a Marvel Now! Thunderbolts Box Set in January of 2014.

Maybe I'm biased having spent the better part of sixth grade painting spare Spider-Man toys to look like Citizen V, but having seen USA Today's reveal of Hasbro's San Diego Comic-Con 2013 exclusives all I can really think is, "It's about dadburn time we got some Thunderbolts action figures."