luke cage

All the way back in 2007, Marvel Comics announced the huge news that animation icon Genndy Tartakovsky would be writing and drawing a Luke Cage miniseries set in the character's '70s heyday. There was an initial promo image that showed Power Man in all his blouse-and-tiara glory, but slowly, time went by and the project drifted into the pile of teased but never completed comics alongside Kevin Smith's Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target and Jon Favreau's Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas. However, there was some rumblings last year that the project may once again be heading towards completion, and today it has been confirmed that beginning in October, Marvel will publish Cage!, the delayed and much-anticipated mini by Tartakovsky.

We’ll remember to pour one out for Agent Carter on the Comic-Con circuit, but it looks like the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have a new friend to play with in San Diego. Marvel has officially confirmed both its flagship ABC drama and Netflix’s Luke Cage are coming to Comic-Con 2016, the first details of which have arrived.

Marvel’s Netflix Defenders have largely kept to their home turf of Hell’s Kitchen, appearing at New York Comic-Con, rather than the big show in San Diego, but if anyone could break the mold, it’d be Luke Cage. Yes, sweet Christmas, Luke Cage is coming to Comic-Con 2016 for a sneak peek of the new Netflix series.

As readers will know from our weekly Best Cosplay Ever feature, we’re big fans of cosplay at ComicsAlliance. The comics, sci-fi, gaming, and fantasy communities have proved time and again their exceptional talents for homemade disguises and superheroic sartorial excellence, and all of their craft and skill was on display this past weekend at HeroesCon. Our chief cosplay correspondent Betty Felon was on hand to document as much of it as she could.

Take a look at the biggest names in superheroes and you probably realize that you're looking at a sea of red, blue, yellow. There are some greens, whites, blacks, etc, but the most iconic superheroes are the red and blue, with yellow accents. It's no accident that the easiest colors to render in the four-color printing process became the choice for bold heroes. But what does it mean for characterization of these heroes? What does it tell us about those characters?

Both Daredevil and Jessica Jones took a low-key approach to costuming its heroes and villains, Luke Cage included, but a Harlem change of scenery appears to have brought some interesting design out of the woodwork. Get your first look at Erik LaRay Harvey suited up as Marvel villain “Diamondback” squaring off with the hero for hire!

Attention now turning from Civil War to Avengers: Infinity War (or whatever they end up calling it), time and time again Marvel brass have tempered expectations as to whether the climactic MCU event will finally bridge the gulf between movie and TV. Not likely, it seems, as writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely reveal the “nearly impossible” challenge in logistics.

No matter how great the divide between Marvel’s TV and movie universe, fans have always quietly banked on Avengers: Infinity War uniting all its live-action heroes in one universe-shattering showdown. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo don’t want to get your hopes up, however, noting “our focus is on telling the stories of the characters that currently exist on the movie side.”

George Tuska was one of those rare artists who could truly do it all; one of the comics industry's most prolific illustrators, who took on countless series and characters in a career that spanned six decades. But while his professional trademarks of adaptability, consistency, and longevity guaranteed him regular assignments, a devoted fanbase, and consistent employment for the length of his life, they also make him an easily-overlooked figure when trying to condense the history of comics into simple, slimmed-down narratives.

It was Daredevil star Charlie Cox who first let slip that Marvel Netflix teamup The Defenders would start shooting before 2016's end, throwing into question Daredevil Season 3, and now we can consider it official. Not only will Daredevil showrunners Marco Ramirez and Doug Petrie helm The Defenders, but Drew Goddard will take an active position as executive producer.