• MARVEL COMICS
• No, really, that's Miles Morales in the new black-and-red suit.

Even if you don’t follow comic book news, you may have heard last summer that a biracial teen named Miles Morales would be taking up the Spider-mantle following the death of Peter Parker. Marvel’s “Ultimates” titles offer a parallel, somewhat streamlined depiction of its major characters, so Peter is alive and well, barring the odd spider-villain attack or loss of his spider-senses, in Marvel’s other titles. Marvel has just released the intriguing, five-issue introduction of Morales in a hardback volume (Marvel, $24.99, 136 pp). Written by Bendis and drawn by Sara Pichelli, Ultimate Spider-Man shows how to take a familiar character and give it an exciting spin.

• CALAMARI, ANYONE?: Captain Nemo's submarine, 'The Nautilus,' in 'League'

In the 48-page one-shot comic Nemo: Heart of Ice, which takes place in Antarctica in the 1920s, Jules Verne will collide with H.P. Lovecraft. "It takes place in Antarctica and [the work of H.P. Lovecraft] is a major component. You figure it out," promised Moore. If all goes according to plan, Heart of Ice will be out by the end of 2012.

Chris Staros of Top Shelf Productions confirmed for me via email that Nemo: Heart of Ice would be published by the Marietta-based graphic novel company, in a co-production with Knockabout Comics. This will make two League-based Top Shelf books by Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill released by Top Shelf this year. Century: 2009, the final book in the century-spanning League trilogy, is due in June (and reportedly evokes the recently-created fictional worlds of "The West Wing" and Harry Potter, among others).

I'm particularly excited by Nemo: Heart of Ice, which Moore hints will resemble a mash-up of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In the Mouth of Madness.
Given that Guillermo Del Toro won't be making his big-screen adaptation of Madness any time soon, Heart of Ice sounds like a great consolation prize.

• Courtesy of DC Comics

RORSCHACH (4 issues) — Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo
MINUTEMEN (6 issues) — Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
COMEDIAN (6 issues) — Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones
DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes
NITE OWL (4 issues) — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert
OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) — Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) — Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner

Original Watchmen writer Alan Moore has been quite vocal in his disenchantment with DC Comics, even having his name removed from big-screen adaptations of his work. Straczynski, who has an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for Clint Eastwood's Changeling and impeccable geek credentials as the creator of "Babylon 5," provided for the Hollywood Reporter a persuasive argument that in favor of other people making more stories about Moore's characters:

The perception that these characters shouldn’t be touched by anyone other than Alan is both absolutely understandable and deeply flawed. As good as these characters are — and they are very good indeed — one could make the argument, based on durability and recognition, that Superman is the greatest comics character ever created. But I don’t hear Alan or anyone else suggesting that no one other than Shuster and Siegel should have been allowed to write Superman. Certainly Alan himself did this when he was brought on to write Swamp Thing, a seminal comics character created by Len Wein.

• MARVEL COMICS
• GOOD THING HE CAN'T SEE HOW HIGH HE IS: Daredevil #1

Daredevil, a.k.a. attorney Matt Murdock, has always been one of Marvel Comics' most tormented heroes, partly because he's a blind man with heightened senses that help him fight evil. He's also a street-level crime-fighter with a closer relationship to poverty and other urban problems than the likes of Thor and the Fantastic Four, who take on more outlandish cosmic menaces. Frank Miller in the 1980s and Brian Michael Bendis in the 2000s conceived the character as very much like a film noir hero, and put Murdock through a wringer that was harsh even by Marvel's angsty standards. The past 10 years have seen Murdock's life ruined in every possible way, including his secret identity made public and a stint in prison with his arch-nemeses. Andy Diggle's miniseries Shadowland, saw Murdock cross numerous moral lines while possessed by a bloodthirsty demon called Snakeroot. When you've got a demon named "Snakeroot" in your book, any pretense at real-world credibility goes out the window.

• Courtesy of DC Comics
• THIS KIND OF SUCKS: DC Comics' 'Stormwatch'

Shawn Crystal: The SCAD professor and artist has a three-issue arc with Marvel's Deadpool (aka "the merc with a mouth") beginning in late May.

Nathan Edmondson: The Macon-based writer will be leaving DC Comics' Grifter as of issue 8, but is continuing his military adventure series The Activity and just announced the upcoming publication of Dancer, a 5-issue series involving a ballerinas and snipers debuting May 2.

• MARVEL COMICS
• Uncle Ben and Peter Parker step into the light

Ultimate Spider-Man, like the rest of the Ultimate line of Marvel comics, was launched about a decade ago to offer a more accessible, streamlined approach to the company's roster of superheroes. Writer Brian Michael Bendis and Marietta-based artist Mark Bagley turned Ultimate Spider-Man into the best-selling Spider-Man title of the decade, emphasizing Peter Parker's vulnerability as a high school teenager thrust into a dark, dangerous world of criminals, domestic spies and super-powered freaks.

Bagley drew 111 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man before moving onto different projects, but happily accepted Marvel's invitation to illustrate the Death of Spider-Man arc. "That was a nice compliment," he told me in a recent interview. "I loved doing it, because it was the culmination of what the poor kid’s been going through for years. A 16-year-old kid getting out there, being not always so smart with his secret identity — it had to happen. Brian wrote a great story."

• Courtesy of DC Comics
• POWER IN THE BLOOD: DC Comics' 'Animal Man'

In my admittedly limited sampling, some of my favorite titles in DC's "New 52" come from "The Dark" line of comics with supernatural themes. The standouts — among the most critically acclaimed titles of the relaunch — are Swamp Thing (written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Yanick Paquette) and Animal Man (written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Travel Foreman and Dan Green). Both revive characters that had their heyday at least two decades ago, and if "The Dark" lives up to their standard, it even ushers in a revival of horror comics. (Note: For an exhaustive summation of all the first issues, check out Keith Phipps and Oliver Sava's five-part Crosstalk at The A.V. Club, which makes a helpful shopping guide.)

Speaking of gimmicks to rename/renumber/relaunch comic books, DC Comics resets the odometer on a grand scale beginning today. As co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio explained in a preview issue, "This September, DV DC Comics explodes with 53 new #1 issues! The entire line of comic books is being renumberd with new, innovative storylines featuring our most iconic characters helmed by some of the most creative minds in the industry." The first title in "The New 52" is Justice League #1, penciled by Lee and written by Geoff Johns, on sale in comic book shops and digitally today, Aug. 31. (Here's a guide to all of them.) Local comic book folks involved with the relaunch include writer Paul Jenkins, who's taking on Deadman with DC Universe Presents, and writer Nathan Edmondson, who'll be reviving the con man Grifter.

This amusing short by young filmmaker Patrick Willems pokes fun at the event mentality of comics publishers and the obsessiveness of fanboys:

• Marvel Comics
• THE COVER DOESN'T DO IT JUSTICE

It turns out that the demise of Johnny Storm, last seen engulfed by a horde of insectoid aliens from The Negative Zone, wasn't the grand finale of a far-flung adventure story. Cosmic cliffhangers notwithstanding, it was more like an act break of an even more intricate, drawn-out storyline that Hickman's been setting up since he took over the book in 2009. While appreciating The Thing and the Invisible Woman, Hickman's focus rests on Reed Richards, a.k.a. Mr. Fantastic, but with less concern over his elasticity powers than his intellect. As the most highly intelligent human being on earth (with possible exceptions, including his own daughter Valeria), how much responsibility does Reed Richards have for addressing mankind's problems?