Spider-Gwen, a younger, female character with the fourth-wall-breaking appeal of Deadpool (since she knows she’s in a comic) version of Spider-Woman (her original name), is one of the characters in the new Marvel Rising franchise. Only there, she’s been renamed “Ghost-Spider”, because “Spider-Gwen” is a silly in-joke. (I’m guessing. I don’t know that Marvel has made a statement why the name change.) Which may be a problem. Marvel has history with the name, effectively reusing it. According to CBR, the […]

This is not new news, but I find it interesting that Marvel Comics is farming out comics for younger readers, using some of their most visible properties, to other publishers. Where DC is creating new imprints to reach this important, fast-growing market, Marvel seems to have decided to stick with the old and familiar, leaving the challenging but high-growth area to others. The latest example — available now for preorder with release in late November — is Spider-Man #1, coming […]

I haven’t talked much about Dead Reckoning, the graphic novel imprint of the Naval Institute Press, because their first four books were a little too military for me. (Usual disclaimer: there are so many things to read these days and so little time!) But Ben Towle (Oyster War, Midnight Sun) has just announced that his next book will come out through that imprint. It’s called Four Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat, and that subject is one I definitely want to […]