Mark Waid

When you get right down to it, it was inevitable. When the Archie comics rebooted, there was a sort of stripped-down approach to rebuilding the universe, an approach that went all the way back to reintroducing Veronica Lodge as an outsider to Riverdale's teens, and while there were a few modern characters who made their reappearances over the course of that first year --- like Kevin Keller, for instance --- there were a handful that were notable for their absence. Now, though, as we move into the second year of the All New Archie, those missing pieces are starting to make their return. Sabrina's showing up in Jughead, and Josie and the Pussycats have a new series in the works. And in Archie #13, Cheryl Blossom is finally back.

Marvel’s reveal of its Marvel NOW line of comics set for release in the wake of Civil War II has taken the form of a steady drip of announcements over the past week and a half, but now news is flooding in, and not all from official sources. Leaked scans of this week's Marvel NOW Previews magazine revealing the publisher's line-up for October and beyond have hit the internet via sites such as Reddit and 4chan. We’ve rounded up all the information we could find to give you a sense of the new landscape of the Marvel Universe this fall.

I love music, and I often find myself thinking about how it relates to comics; which characters would listen to which artists, and so forth. But what's the best way to get around the medium's limitations when it comes to stories about music and musicians? It's a question that's especially relevant to some of my favorite recent titles. The classic way to visualize music in comics is just to put the lyrics in a word balloon with some musical notes scattered around to convey singing. I’m going to be honest; I hate this approach, and in this day and age, I’m sure I’m not the only one. I find it impossible to read the lyrics as a song instead of a tuneless poem. There are better ways, as seen in books like Jem And The Holograms and Black Canary.

Well now we know what those "I Quit" promo images were all about. Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, and Nova are quitting the Avengers, leaving the All-New All-Different team without so much of the new and different. Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we now know for sure that they're forming their own team along with Cyclops (the teenage version), Hulk (Amadeus Cho, that is) and Viv Vision (the daughter from Tom King's Vision book). And for once the team that splits off from the Avengers isn't called the Something Something Avengers. These young heroes are taking on a name Marvel hasn't used in decades, the Champions.

Ever since Archie opened its updated relaunch with the news that Archie and Betty had broken up, tensions have been running high in the otherwise idyllic small town of Riverdale, and now, it seems like they're finally hitting a fever pitch. When Archie #10 hits on July 27, it's finally time... for the Riverdale Civil War.

Of all the strange transformations Superman has undergone in his 78-year history, none has been quite so derided as the year where his familiar costume and powers were replaced with a blue and white "containment suit" and a tenuous relationship with electricity. But that raises the question, was it really all that bad? Two decades later, we want to find out, so ComicsAlliance is taking a look back at the Electric Blue Era of Superman to find out not just what worked, but if anything worked. This is... Electric Bluegaloo. This week, the Electric Blue Era goes full Kirby, and Scorn has a date to the dance.

Of all the strange transformations Superman has undergone in his 78-year history, none has been quite so derided as the year where his familiar costume and powers were replaced with a blue and white "containment suit" and a tenuous relationship with electricity. But that raises the question, was it really all that bad? Two decades later, we want to find out, so ComicsAlliance is taking a look back at the Electric Blue Era of Superman to find out not just what worked, but if anything worked. This is... Electric Bluegaloo. This week, Jimmy Olsen is marked for death by Intergang and Lex Luthor finally goes on trial for his crimes!

If you had to choose a place in Riverdale to hang out, it would almost have to be Lodge Manor, right? I mean, yes, there's a mustachioed plutocrat who's going to be glowering at you for the whole time, and a butler with surprisingly well-developed upper-body strength just waiting to toss you out on your ear, but that's balanced out by the pool, the spacious billiard room, and a chef willing to prepare a feast that would satisfy even Jughead Jones. Alas, that's no longer an option for Archie and Veronica. After Mark Waid and Veronica Fish's Archie #8 ended with the revelation that Veronica can only continue to date the Andrews boy if Hiram Lodge never has to see him, they'll be spending a lot of time at Archie's house --- and that means that in the next issue, Veronica's going to be changing things to be a bit more to her liking.

Back when Edgar Wright parted ways with Marvel, Adam McKay was in the running to replace him as the director of Ant-Man. Although the job ultimately went to Peyton Reed, McKay worked on the screenplay and there have been talks of the director possibly taking on a superhero movie of his very own. That time is now, as McKay has finally signed on to helm a comic book adaptation…just not for Marvel.

The new Wasp is at the center of All-New All-Different Avengers #9, which launches a new storyline called "Family Business." Until her debut on Free Comic Book Day, we don't know who this knew Wasp really is. Her face is revealed on one of the unlettered preview pages below, but all that really tells us is that she wears her hair in roughly the same style as Hope Van Dyne, the soon-to-be-Wasp played by Evangeline Lily in the Ant-Man movie.