mark millar

Q: What's the deal with Aztek? -- @LOTR_Dan A: Well, this one's easy: Aztek is a hero for the new millennium -- if he lives that long! And, you know, I don't want to spoil the ending for you or anything, but he actually does, even if it's kind of on a technicality. I mean, when you get right down to it, "a hero for about three months into the 21st century before he explodes in space and is never seen again" probably wouldn't fit on the cover. Trust me, though. It's better than it sounds.

Mark Millar has been the lynch-pin of Marvel’s creator owned imprint Icon for the past several years, way back to the first volume of Kick-Ass in 2008. Since then, at Icon and beyond, he’s generated a wave of new independent comics with A-List collaborators such as Steve McNiven, Frank Quitely and Sean Gordon Murphy, and many of those books have been adapted to films. Empress continues Millar’s trend of superstar collaborators as he teams with Stuart Immonen (plus inker Wade von Grawbadger and colorist Ive Svorcina) to tell a sprawling sci-fi story about an enslaved intergalactic queen on the run from her tyrannical husband, with her three children in tow. Check out a preview!

Born on this day in 1968, Vincent Deighan isn't a name a lot of comics fans know, but few artists are as instantly identifiable by their work. Working under the pen name Frank Quitely (a not-as-obvious-as-it-seems play on "quite frankly") for the past quarter century, chiefly with writers Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, the Scottish artist's highly detailed, deeply stylized work has offered a fresh perspective on Superman, the X-Men, Batman and more, and brought personality and depth to a range of original characters.

This week, Comixology has a huge sale on Grant Morrison's work for DC and Vertigo, and as much as I like writing these columns and helping to turn people on to some good stuff, this is one time where I don't really feel like I can give a whole lot of direction. As you may already know, Morrison is pretty good at writing comic books, and his collaborations with artists like Frank Quitely, Howard Porter, Rags Morales and Richard Case has produced some of the best classics of the modern era. But as tempting as it is to just say, "Hey, just because you love All Star Superman, that doesn't mean you'll really like The Invisibles" and call it a day, there is one thing that you should definitely be on the lookout for: the complete collection of Aztek: The Ultimate Man, one of the most underrated, under-appreciated superhero comics of the '90s, can be yours for five bucks.

Taron Egerton has become quite popular since his breakout role earlier this year in Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service, and while that’s great news for the actor and his fans, it’s a bit tricky for his scheduling, which has gotten a little complicated. And it’s Egerton’s popularity that’s causing a slight issue for Kingsman 2 as it prepares to head into production in the spring.

The Marvel Comics line is about mid-way through its giant line-wide crossover event Secret Wars, in which reality has been rewritten by god-emperor Doom, and the heroes have been re-imagined more than a dozen times over in different domains paying tribute to stories from throughout Marvel's publishing history. One of those domains is a version of House of M, another reality-rewriting crossover event that cast the Marvel heroes in different roles, which ran ten years ago. House of M launched the current era of Marvel events, kicking off a steady steam of universe-shaking storylines that continues into Secret Wars. To mark the tenth anniversary of House of M, and ten years of event-driven storytelling, we're asking you to determine which of these events was the very best.

Mark Millar’s stylish and violent graphic novels have proven to be ripe source material for film adaptations, from Kick-Ass to Kingsman: The Secret Service, but there’s one project that’s had a tougher time getting off the ground. Nemesis was initially set up at 20th Century Fox with Tony Scott attached to direct, but following the director’s untimely death, the property entered development limbo — until now.

Many of comics’ most popular heroes have been around for decades, and in the case of the big names from the publisher now known as DC Comics, some have been around for a sizable chunk of a century. As these characters passed through the different historical eras known in comics as the Golden Age (the late 1930s through the early 1950s), the Silver Age (the mid 1950s through the late 1960s), the Bronze Age (the early 1970s through the mid 1980s) and on into modern times, they have experienced considerable changes in tone and portrayal that reflect the zeitgeist of the time. With this feature we’ll help you navigate the very best stories of DC Comics’ most beloved characters decade by decade. This week, we’re taking a look at the best Lex Luthor comics.

Image Comics held its now traditional pre-San Diego one-day show on Thursday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and unveiled an impressive roster of new titles for the coming year that includes new work by familiar names such as Warren Ellis, Jason Aaron and Gail Simone; plus an encouraging number of relative newcomers and unknowns. Check out our rundown of all the news and announcements.

Perhaps because he wanted to reveal more of the back story, perhaps because of Frank Quitely's legendary turnaround times, Mark Millar has teamed with artist Wilfredo Torres for Jupiter's Circle, a ten-issue companion series to Jupiter's Legacy. Does it actually provide something new, or is it more of the same? (I genuinely don't know, I'm writing this part before I actually read it.) One thing's for certain: it's one-hundred percent going to be finished before Jupiter's Legacy is.