Doctor Doom

Marvel Comics' wave of announcements for its post-Civil War II line-up keeps on trucking with news of four more ongoing series with high-profile creative teams that give us a peek at the new Marvel NOW. As part of the new status quo, Carol Danvers is more popular than ever, there's a new Iron Man who isn't Riri Williams, Thanos is getting his shot at a title, and we finally get that new Jessica Jones series we've been waiting a year for.

Recently, Marvel has been releasing teaser images with the tagline "Divided We..." featuring two characters separated by shattered imagery, and all we knew was that it pointed to the publisher's fall slate of comics set to be unveiled later this month under the Marvel NOW banner. Today, Marvel released a complete teaser titled "Divided We Stand," featuring two distinct groups of heroes and villains separated by a literal divide.

A lot of people were disappointed by last summer’s Fantastic Four. The reboot, directed by Josh Trank, was supposed to relaunch one of the most popular comic-book series in history, and erase the memory of two previous, unpopular Fantastic Four movies in the process. It had a great cast, including Miles Teller, Kate Mara, and Michael B. Jordan. It had Trank, coming off his acclaimed superhero film Chronicle. It should have been the start of something huge.

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.

Doctor Doom first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott and Stan Goldberg, published on April 10 1961. One of the most iconic villains in comic book history, Victor Von Doom has always remained steadfast in his goals: Take over the world for its own benefit, and kill Reed Richards along the way, if there's time.

In honor of the caped crusaders of the convention scene, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), an ongoing collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we’ve discovered and assembled into a super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent.

It’s been said that Doctor Doom is not just one of the greatest supervillains of all time but rather that he’s the supervillain, the one that defines them all. Whenever Doom appears, he's always a huge threat. That’s evident from his very first appearance in Fantastic Four #5 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, when he kidnaps Sue Storm and forces the rest of the FF to travel back in time to steal Blackbeard’s treasure to help him conquer the world. He later teamed up with Namor the Sub-Mariner to send the team into space --- by literally magnetizing the Baxter Building and attaching it to a rocket ship. Of course, he double crosses Namor and the FF. But Namor gets the upper hand and gets the FF back to Earth, leaving Doom on an asteroid careening out into space. But do you think that stopped him?

There are many things you can point to in superhero comics as examples of sexism and gender essentialism. Today we will ignore those. Today, we come not to bury comics and their handling of gender issues, but to praise them. Today we salute those brave men who stare down a world of gender-coded clothing choices and say, "No. Not on my watch. Not around my waist." We speak, of course, of the male miniskirt.

We have spent our fair share of time sifting through the ashes of the new Fantastic Four movie, desperately trying to figure out exactly what happened here. Call it a morbid fascination. Call it professional curiosity. All we know is that the finished movie is not what anyone involved set out to make. Now we have another item of interest – a glimpse at an early screenplay for the film and it couldn’t be more different than the final film.

Although cosplay has been present for decades within the comics, anime, and sci-fi/fantasy fandoms, social media has played an integral role in the thriving communities of costuming that exist, such as Cosplay.com and the Superhero Costuming Forum...