“Another glimpse of what’s to come. Check back Monday for another look at what’s in store for Rick and his people,” Robert Kirkman said Friday via Twitter.

“After Rick and the other survivors are brought into a larger world, they are given something to fear. Check back tomorrow for another glimpse of what’s in store for Rick and his people,” Robert Kirkman said Thursday via Twitter.

This is the Previews solicit for Walking Dead #96:

Walking Dead  #96
Written by Robert Kirkman. Illustrated by Charlie Adlard.

Mature Readers
THE ROAD TO ISSUE ONE HUNDRED STARTS HERE AS ‘A LARGER WORLD’ CONCLUDES! Will Rick’s community join the network? Will they enter into an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity – or has Rick ruined that for everyone? Has he now made more, deadlier enemies for them to deal with?

Marvel Comics released a four teaser image Friday afternoon for Amazing Spider-Man #682 written by Dan Slott with art by Stefano Caselli. The ‘Ends of the Earth’ storyline involves the Sinister Six and in this teaser image you see Spider-Man a new armored suit. Amazing Spider-Man #682 will be in your local comic book store on March 21st, 2012.

He’ll Go To The Ends Of The Earth To Save You In AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!

The next big Spider-Man epic begins in Amazing Spider-Man #682, part one of Ends Of The Earth, by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli! The Sinister Six, led by the vengeful Doctor Octopus, is back and they’re looking for revenge! Can Spider-Man & Earth’s Mightiest save the world before Doc Ock’s explosive endgame is revealed? Find in Amazing Spider-Man #682 hitting comic shops and the Marvel Comics app this March!

Join the conversation on Twitter with #SpiderMan.

The ‘Red Lights’ trailer hit the internet Thursday Cillian Murphy might be in over his head in this paranormal thriller. A release date on “Red Lights’ has not been determined yet. This also the second trailer this week to feature Sigourney Weaver as well.

Red Lights Official Trailer 2012 HD Red Lights Movie English Version

Genre: Thriller
Release Date: TBA
Director: Rodrigo Cortes
Screenwriter: Rodrigo Cortes
Studio: Millennium Entertainment
MPAA Rating: N/A
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Elizabeth Olsen, Toby Jones

Synopsis:
Two investigators of paranormal hoaxes, the veteran Dr. Margaret Matheson and her young assistant, Tom Buckley, study the most varied metaphysical phenomena with the aim of proving their fraudulent origins. Simon Silver, a legendary blind psychic, reappears after an enigmatic absence of 30 years to become the greatest international challenge to both orthodox science and professional sceptics. Tom starts to develop an intense obsession with Silver, whose magnetism becomes stronger with each new manifestation of inexplicable events. As Tom gets closer to Silver, tension mounts, and his worldview is threatened to its core.

Marvel Comics announced Friday morning that The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week #1 (of 8) can be downloaded for free from http://marvel.com/mobile starting Super Bowl Sunday. The rest of the Avengers Prelude will arrive every Tuesday beginning February 14th for 99 cents per issue. Chris Yost and Eric Pearson write Marvel’s The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week with art by Luke Ross.

There will also be a new Avengers trailer during the Super Bowl. Marvel released 10 seconds of footage earlier in the week on Tuesday.

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Marvel’s The Avengers Prelude Debuts For FREE On Sunday
Lead-In To Hotly Anticipated Blockbuster Film Available on Marvel Comics app

Get your first look at the events leading up the biggest movie of the year—Marvel’s The Avengers—this Sunday in Marvel’s The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week #1 (of 8), free on the Marvel Comics app! That’s right—not only is Marvel giving you the first look at new footage from The Avengers in a special commercial during the big game, but the Marvel Comics app will feature the first issue of this action packed series for FREE! Subsequent issues of Marvel’s The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week will arrive every Tuesday beginning February 14th for 99 cents per issue.

“We’ve worked hand-in-hand with Marvel Studios to create an exciting story set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that sets the stage perfectly for the most anticipated film of the summer,” said Axel Alonso, Marvel Editor in Chief. “Now, for the first time. you’ll find out just what happened to some of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on the road to Marvel’s The Avengers.”

What is the Avengers Initiative? And what are the secrets of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury? The answers arrive in Marvel’s The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week and the first issue is free this Sunday only on the Marvel Comics app!

Want to know more about Marvel Studios The Avengers blockbuster film? Follow us on Twitter at @Avengers and tweet with hashtag #Avengers! And then “like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/avengers for access to more exclusive Avengers content!

Check out http://avengers.marvel.com for more news on the biggest film of 2012!

Still in Vegas after being blackmailed and going A.W.O.L. to steal an item (which turned out to be the Toxin symbiote) for Jack O’Lantern and Crime Master, Flash Thompson has fallen back into his alcoholism to cope and pushing Betty Brant as far away as possible.  After all, the closer she, or anyone else, is to him, the more danger they’re in as a result of the aforementioned villains knowing who he is.

Flash’s bender won’t last long, though.  The Red Hulk, on orders from Captain America, has arrived to collect him.  Unfortunately for both of them, there’s evil–for real–afoot in Vegas thanks to a certain black-hearted entity who wants to bring Hell to Earth.

Blackheart, the son of the devil Mephisto, is masquerading as a casino owner and is intent on tricking the new Ghost Rider, Alejandra, into completing the final step of his plan.  Meanwhile, X-23 has her own issues with Blackheart, who she only believes to be a casino owner who purchased a vial of her blood on the black market.

It’s only natural that all four heroes should converge when the shit hits the fan later in the issue.

Overall, this issue moves at a nice pace.  Rick Remender does a great job of establishing why X-23 and Ghost Rider are in Vegas, as well as giving readers a quick background on who they are.  The student-mentor conflict between Alejandra and former Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze is also very well-executed, as are the Venom/Red Hulk fight panels.

The only thing that kind of made me scratch my head here were the “symbiote warriors”–symbiote-outfitted clones of X-23.  While the idea is very much in line with my inner 8-year-old’s dreams of a Wolverine-bonds-with-the-Venom-symbiote scenario, it all just feels very ’90s now.

Regardless, there’s a certain level of camp there to be appreciated.  Tony Moore and Val Staples capture this with realistic-yet-pulpy art that matches the over-the-top nature of a story like this.

With five more parts coming in the next five weeks, this story has potential to be a fun ride.

STORY: 7.5/10
ART: 8.5/10 

BUY Venom #13 on Amazon

Still white-hot from the hype-machine of the interweb, Fatale has once again sold out at the distribution level. Luckily I was able to snag a copy at my local shop this time around. From what I understand this comic is still flying off the stands. Check out my review of issue #1 if you missed out on all the action last time around. Layers of Lovecraftian-esque lore are woven around this mystery as we dive deeper in to the quest for some ancient heirloom. The McGuffin plot device set’s this one up for another round immersive cult drama.

Brubaker doesn’t beat around the bush and ditches some speculation baggage straight away for the sake of clarity. In the “Story Thus Far” opening section in Fatale #2 we are given some new information about the characters and a reveal about the back story. Josephine from present day is also the mystery girl from the 50′s in the lost manuscript (and from the what I gathered from the sub-text it is a true story). Apparently Josephine is some kind of succubus ala Hellraiser, because she hasn’t aged a day since the ’50′s (it was visually hinted, but now I definitely know). Also Nicolas’s god-father, Dominic Reign (also known as Hank Reign), is the main reporter character in this apparently autobiographical manuscript. Things that were clues are just straight up spelled out for you. Now I can just concentrate on the 1950′s back story at hand. Thank god, because it’s a tangled one.

Every film studio is releasing their trailer on the internet days before the Super Bowl, aren’t you spending millions of dollars for that 30-second ad? Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to see a new ‘Hunger Games’ trailer. The film looks like it’s following after the book very faithfully and the way the trailer is cut it’s totally geared towards the fans of the books. ‘Hunger Games’ will be in your local theater on March 23rd, 2012.

He’ll Go To The Ends Of The Earth To Protect You In AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!

The next big Spider-Man epic begins in Amazing Spider-Man #682, part one of Ends Of The Earth, by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli! The Sinister Six, led by the vengeful Doctor Octopus, is back and they’re looking for revenge! Can Spider-Man & Earth’s Mightiest save the world before Doc Ock’s explosive endgame is revealed? Find in Amazing Spider-Man #682 hitting comic shops and the Marvel Comics app this March!

Join the conversation on Twitter with #SpiderMan.

Marvel Comics Thursday morning released a five-page preview of FF #15 written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Nick Dragotta. In this issue Power Pack guest stars with giant Celestials in the back ground and Doom went bye-bye. Dragotta’s art on the Celestials is gorgeous and reminded me of 70′s Thor action. FF #15 will be in your local comic book store on February 29th, 2012.

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Your First Look At FF # 15 – Guest Starring POWER PACK!

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at FF #15, from the critically acclaimed team of Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta. Doctor Doom’s self-sacrifice has bought the Universe a second chance! Now, it is up to the Future Foundation and special guest stars, Power Pack, to battle the mad Celestials as the standoff for the future begins! Can the Future Foundation ensure the Marvel Universe’s safety? Will Doctor Doom’s sacrifice be in vain? Find out in FF #15, hitting comic shops everywhere and the Marvel Comics app, this February! With a variant cover by seminal Power Pack artist June Brigman, no fan can miss this!

James “Bucky” Barnes has lived one tragically long life. Recently, within the pages of Fear Itself, we believed Bucky (aka Captain America) to have found peace at the mercy of Sins Asgardian hammer. But thanks to Nick Fury and his stash of a version of the Infinity Formula, Bucky was revived by a heartbroken (Black) widows request. The Marvel universe now believes Bucky to be dead and only Nick Fury, Black Widow and Steve Rogers know the truth: Bucky Barnes has revived the legendary Russian agent, Winter Soldier! Bucky is back within his element, cast in the shadows. His plan? To tie up loose ends from his days as the puppeted Winter Solider agent during the Cold War. He won’t be alone, it seems that the Black Widow is a permament partner.

This issue kicks off with the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow entering a retired soviet base, presently disguised with a casino sitting atop it. Both Barnes and Romanov being natural spies, they quickly make way to a secret door leading to the underground base. The couple make a cute game of “First to be seen buys the mornings breakfast” as they incapcitate gaurds along the various complex corridors. They come along a familiar stasus pod, much like the pod the Winter Soldier was kept “preserved” inbetween missions. But this pod is clearly marked with the name: Zephyr. Could there still be undercover agents exectuing covert assassinations within the Marvel universe? If so, who controls them? And what does it all have to do with Dr. Doom!?

Winter Soldier creator, Ed Brubaker, launches the series as writer. Brubaker was a big pull for me, as he truly understands these characters and their personal voices. This is officially a continuation of his Winter Soldier mythology, first started within the pages of Captain America. And spy espionage dramas are both, Brubaker and Barnes expertee!

Penciler Butch Guice draws one fluid comic wide ation sequence. His detail on charcter expressions and faces has greatly improved from his last arc “Gulag” within the last Captain America volume. A handful of panels almost seem like he penciled over actual photographs, much like Alex Maleev’s art style. These panels crafted strong story beats that made the moment personable… if not a bit distracting. Guice’s panel placement need be commended, though he stuck to the basic rectangular box- it’s the way they were compressed and stacked that lead the eye and made the action and dialogue flow perfectly.

This is a solid beginning for a promising series. I forsee a long life with Brubaker leading the charge. This issue was everything you hoped and waited for, plus fun twists in choice of villian! And i’m not referring to the clocked tin man. Though I’m sad to see Bucky no longer wearing the flag, I’m glad he’s not dead: Long live the Winter Soldier!

Story: 9
Art: 9

Recommended this week:
Avengers X-Sanction #3 – Two unexpected guest crash Cables party!
Uncanny X-Force #21 – Fantomex undergoes mutliple Lobotomys. Reviewed here.
Swamp Thing #6 – The Rot inches ever closer to cutting off the Green.

Follow me on twitter @DDsuperbatnix