Mark Waid

Archie Comics has developed a reputation for doing the unexpected and somehow pulling it off. The wholesome publisher pipped Marvel and DC to the lead in launching an ongoing book with a gay teen protagonist in Kevin Keller; it broke with the conventions of comic book continuity with its attention-grabbing Archie Marries... books; and it successfully brought zombies to Riverdale with its critically and commercially successful Afterlife With Archie books, potentially kicking off a new line of horror books. So it feels in keeping with that spirit that Archie Comics announced yesterday that it plans to relaunch its cheery (and under-exposed) Red Circle superhero line as 'Dark Circle,' a line of adult-oriented series with the sophisticated narrative ambitions of HBO or Showtime. It's certainly unexpected. Can Archie Comics pull it off?

If our weekly Ask Chris column isn't enough of definitive comic book (and pro wrestling) opinions for you, good news: ComicsAlliance is proud to present Here's The Thing, a series of videos where you can join our own extremely opinionated senior writer, Chris Sims, as he dives into comics history to explain why you're wrong and he's right. This week, a reader wants to know just what the big deal is about Mark Waid's run on Flash in the '90s, and, as tends to happen with this sort of things, that simple question sends Chris into a lecture about the history of the DC Universe and the underlying themes, with an argument that Flash is the third most important character in DC History.

A favorite among many longtime and hardcore Batman fans, writer Alan Brennert released a statement on Facebook this week regarding his lack of compensation for the use of the character Barbara Kean Gordon in the upcoming Fox TV show Gotham, a live-action series based on the Batman characters. Brennert wrote a story in 1981 where the character was created as the fiancée of then-Lt. James Gordon. While it was an out-of-continuity story, the character was later brought into canon as Commissioner Gordon’s wife (most notably in Batman: Year One, and in the films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight). In the television series' pilot episode -- which ComicsAlliance staffers have seen and verified -- Barbara Kean is introduced as James Gordon's bride-to-be, played by Erin Richards. For this reason, Brennert requested equity in the character and compensation for her use in Gotham – a request that has been denied, which has in turn inspired consternation among Brennert's fans, industry observers and other creators.

Inexplicably cleared in the phone hacking scandal, ComicsAlliance is back with the fifth installment of Original Spin, the only Original Sin recap that... exists, maybe? We don't know! We haven't done any research. That's what makes us a name you can trust. The Watcher is dead. Nick Fury is also dead. A bunch of disparate heroes spent four issues wandering around crime scenes before discovering they're maybe all working for Nick Fury, who isn't dead, and was maybe responsible for all those crime scenes, so.. what? The Watcher probably also won't be dead, eventually. That's the story so far. With issue #5... that's... still the story, because nothing really happened. But here's a recap anyway!

As part of the short-lived Gorilla imprint of Image Comics in 2000, frequent collaborators Mark Waid and Barry Kitson launched Empire, a creator-owned title about the reign of a supervillain who succeeded where so many others failed, and actually conquered the Earth, uniting it under his brutal, iron-fisted rule. The initial run only lasted two issues, but a few years later, Waid and Kitson finished the first story arc under the DC Comics banner, and in so doing created something of a cult classic that some fans still regard as their best work together -- work that includes The Legion of Super-Heroes, JLA: Year One and Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold. Now, fourteen years after Golgoth first took control of the world, Waid and Kitson have returned to Empire, releasing it as a webcomic through Thrillbent's monthly subscription model, whereby you get access to the entire Thrillbent catalogue for $3.99, and a free download of Empire volume 1. To find out more about the return of Empire, we spoke to Kitson about the initial idea, how he approached designing a world that had been conquered by evil, and where he and Waid intend to take the very long awaited Empire volume 2.

Each week, ComicsAlliance’s Chris Sims and Matt Wilson host the War Rocket Ajax podcast, their online audio venue for interviews with comics creators, reviews of the books of the week, and whatever else they want to talk about. ComicsAlliance is offering clips of the comics-specific segments of the show several days before the full podcast goes up at WarRocketAjax.com on Mondays. This week, Chris and Matt are offering up some extended reviews of DC Comics' Secret Origins #1 by Greg Pak, Lee Weeks, Kyle Higgins, Doug Mahnke, Tony Bedard, and Paulo Siqueria, and Marvel's Original Sin #0 by Mark Waid and Jim Cheung.

Thrillbent, the digital comics publishing website founded by writers Mark Waid and John Rogers, has spent the past two years offering up free comics for pretty much free. In a Wednesday blog post, Waid unveiled what he's calling "Thrillbent 3.0," which adds another layer of content that Waid is calling a sort of "Hulu Plus of comics." Fans can pay a $3.99 monthly fee -- about a

I have pretty strong feelings about Peter Parker's parents. To put them succinctly, I don't think they should matter. Peter's parents are dead, and that's that. Uncle Ben and Aunt May raised him, and they're the ones we should care about. I say that to explain upfront that Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business, the new graphic novel by Mark Waid, James Robinson, Gabrielle Dell'Otto and Werther Dell'

If our weekly Ask Chris column isn't enough of definitive comic book (and pro wrestling) opinions for you, good news: This week, we're launching Here's The Thing, a series of videos where you can join our own extremely opinionated senior writer, Chris Sims, as he sits in his living room under a framed portrait of Destro, drinking a cup of coffee and sharing his opinion on comic books. This week in

  Each week, ComicsAlliance’s Chris Sims and Matt Wilson host the War Rocket Ajax podcast, their online audio venue for interviews with comics creators, reviews of the books of the week, and whatever else they want to talk about. ComicsAlliance is offering clips of the comics-specific segments of the show several days before the full podcast goes up at WarRocketAjax.com on Mondays. This week, it's