E&P reports from the front lines of the controversy that kids are totally not taking the fact that this comic strip ran in their school paper lying down or whatever:

"We don't care if it was a black, white, orange, purple, pink person who wrote this article," Audrey Foreback, a sophomore, told local radio station WYTV. "They should not have been allowed to print it and publish it throughout the school. It's just wrong."

That extraordinarily stupid statement appears even more stupid once you read the actual comic strip in question. Also stupid is the fact that "some students showed up at the student center with nooses around their necks in protest of the cartoon," which simply does not make sense, if the sight of a man in a noose offends you so (unless the offense is only taken when said noose is rendered in cartoon form).

Keith Knight himself is gracious about the whole thing on his blog but what he's really trying to say is: Shut up, college.

[Pic: K Chronicles]

Britain, a nation located in England, may be about to lose its AAA credit rating. Like, the whole country. Which is not good, because you know who has even worse debt problems than Britain? We do, America! "A sobering financial picture of Uncle Sam's balance came from David Walker, a former US comptroller general, who wrote last week in the Financial Times that the US has a negative net worth of $11 trillion, and off-balance-sheet obligations of $45 trillion. The US has only about $11 trillion in gold stashed in vaults."

Bit of advice, America: when you decide how to invest all that scrilla to make up that extra $11 trillion, do not invest it in building malls. Nobody is going to those places any more. Abandoned 'Ghost Malls' now dot the American countryside like so many Stuckeys'! Where will surly teens go now to stand around in packs and declare that "this mall sucks"?

Perhaps they will turn to useful activities such as art? (Play along, it's a segue). But that may be a bad plan as well! Comic strips, as an industry, are dying off. Newspapers can't afford to pay for them. If Family Circle goes down, it's only a matter of time before the whores take over.
[Pic via]

[A]ccording to Jim Salicrup, editor-in-chief of Papercutz, the publisher that revived the classic title about 16 months ago. "This was not a partisan thing. People tend to think of everything as black and white these days—you are either for or against one of the parties 100%. But for us this was about the history of EC Comics, the original publisher of 'Tales from the Crypt.' Anyone who knows that history knows that even of whiff of banning books is going to get us angry."

The issue also features an editorial by Cathy Gaines Mifsud, daughter of late great EC Comics publisher and MAD magazine founder William Gaines: "Tales From the Crypt is not endorsing any political candidates, nor are we attacking any candidates. What usually seems to be behind banning books is an attempt to repress ideas that may offer alternative political views. This is not only un-American—blatantly violating the very concept of free speech—but it is assuming that people are unable to come to their own informed conclusions," she writes. [LAT]

It's not so much dark times now, as profane and loud. Satire you'll have, oh dear me, indeedy yes. "Vomitous" and "awash" are two words that come to mind. It used to be that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. How antediluvian. Rather, everyone will now want a satirical YouTube film with 15 megabytes.

Satire we'll have. Rather, the real dearth in our world will be sweetness, comfort, thoughtfulness and civility. If I could do "Peanuts," that's what I'd be doing. Alas, I've tried. And oh, you get way, way richer.

[Cracked]

[Cracked]

Love and Rockets
What's it about? What isn't it about? In one of the first important alternative comics of the 80s, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez perfected a brand of engaging, sexy, comic family that makes Tyler Perry look like a prop comic. Originally self-published by these two brilliant brothers, Love and Rockets found a niche as an evolving, chaotic work of genius that spans both of the Americas. Choosing one story would be difficult, but the mystery set in the fictional town of Palomar might be the perfect place to start.
Who should star and direct? Even the visual style of the Hernandez brothers fits King of the Hill creator Mike Judge, and instead he is wasting years of his life on movies like the Luke Wilson-Maya Rudolph comedy Idiocracy. Judge is laboring on another television show in the interim, and when he decides to come back to the big screen L & R should be the reason. Casting a bunch of total unknowns for this would be a stroke of genius. My office will bill your office, Mike.

Thunderbolts: Faith In Monsters
What's it about? Prolific comic book scripter Warren Ellis' version of Thunderbolts is the story of a bunch of supervillains forcibly conscripted by the U.S. government to apprehend rogue superheroes. The unlikely and largely unknown team of Swordsman, Venom, Bullseye, Moonstone, Songbird, Penance and Radioactive Man won't win in the name recognition category. The dark and funny concept is the key here, turning the traditional structure of superheroes on their head. Thunderbolts may have to wait until the genre collapses in on itself and is in need of a shake-up.
Who should star and direct? Ellis' group of villains are led by Spiderman's Norman Osborn, and since Willem Dafoe's version of him is relegated to cable, a suitable replacement would be to resurrect the classic performance of Greg Kinnear's Captain Amazing character from Mystery Men as the team leader. I'll also have to see if the guy who directed Clue is still alive, I am imagining a similar comical/scary vibe. Victory! John Landis is still kicking.

Potential
What's it about? By all rights Potential is the way that Juno soundtracker Kimya Dawson should have been widely exposed to the American-moviegoing public. A coming of age story about a young lesbian girl by L Word writer Ariel Schrag, Potential doesn't need the traditional contrivances (pregnancy, wedding, love triangle) to be a uniquely moving story of an unrequited love. May 6 was supposed to mark the move back into print for this astonishing book, but it's already freely available on Amazon again. Potential has the potential to not only be a hilarious journey through adolescence, but a story that actually helps young people find themselves.
Who should star and direct? Since Ellen Page's handlers will be keeping her at least 50 feet away from this project at all times, and time travel isn't available to use a young Natalie Portman as the object of desire, how about Juno co-star Olivia Thirlby? She's naturally funny and winning. I guess Todd Solondz would probably ruin this project, but a more sincere film might challenge his critics and he doesn't appear to be working on anything except his own self-loathing.

Marvel 1602
What's it about? Plans for a Justice League movie have fallen apart out of serious fear about how much money the studio that greenlit this project would be making. In all seriousness, the presence of Superman, Batman and the rest that would require so much star power the production would probably just break down into an extremely competitive circle jerk (2-to-1 odds on Brandon Routh in that one). Instead of having to hire a 16 person continuity commission, they could just go with with this slightly different version of the familiar superheroes of the Marvel Universe. This historically fascinating Neil Gaiman-conceived project is perfect for the big screen, and only requires Nick Fury, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and Captain America. That's pocket change compared to Batman and Superman.
Who should direct and star? It's no shock Lord Steven Spielberg hasn't jumped on the superhero train, but since Shia LaBoeuf isn't exactly scoring in bars, I could see them teaming up again down the road. (Shia as Captain America? No. Nick Fury? Nooo. Wolverine's little brother Wolvy? Yes.) Unfortunately, Spielberg seems committed to the Abbie Hoffman movie Chicago 7. If he can't get the stars required to make Marvel 1602 happen, no one can.

1. Indestructibility: "We obviously go into most superhero stories more or less positive that the hero won't die, but they still entertain us because the hero doesn't know that."
2. Moral absolutism: "Superman has no values of his own, so he's content to just uphold the values of the ruling class."
3. Truth, justice, and the Kryptonian way: "You could say he's a symbol of 'hope,' but not hope in human nature - hope in an all-powerful alien who saves the world daily so you don't have to get off your butt and act like a moral person."
4. Powers given < powers earned
5. Batman > Superman: "It's five times harder for Batman to do anything which Superman takes for granted on a daily basis, yet he often does it a hell of a lot better."
6. To fix these problems is to turn him into another superhero altogether: "Heck, Superman's arc in Kingdom Come isn't even anything deeper than "America has forgotten me and I them, and we need to restore faith in one another." Wow - real interesting. While you're doing that, Batman will be over in the corner, contemplating suicide.

Fraser has already filmed a cameo as the grizzled, handle-bar-mustached, vest-but-no-shirt wearing Marine, Gung Ho. And the role of Shipwreck, a sailor-suited Navy seal with a parrot on his shoulder is being offered to Dwayne quote-unquote "The Rock" Johnson.

Evidently the "Don't ask don't tell policy" doesn't extend into the Joe army. And perhaps it doesn't extend into C.O.B.R.A. either. After all, Cobra Commander wore cape and spoke with a lisp. And hopefuly that's how the recently-cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play him. So now you know... and knowing is half the battle.

• Fraser Gung-Ho For G.I. Joe And The Rock To Get Shipwrecked? [Latino Review]

Incidentally, this sort of stunt may feel like a cheap grab for readership in a dying industry, and it is, but it's also part of a long tradition in superhero comics of violating all traditional rules of literature. Superheroes have always died, resurrected, and revealed their identities without consequence. Why doesn't this ruin the brand? Well, when's the last time you bought a comic book? Modern film audiences don't need to actually read the comic to get the Batman brand, so DC can do what they like with comic-book Batman while film Batman keeps raking in money.

But still, they're killing Batman, dude, the real honest-to-god comic-book Batman, and the Times will write about the character's importance to America, making a sort of cultural obituary, and either Chuck Klosterman or the Freakonomics guys will explain how this is a zeitgeist, and DC might sell a few extra copies before its comics again fade into obscurity.

Six minutes:

Two and a half minutes (and with a superior soundtrack by the Fiery Furnaces):

Commenters on Metafilter are comparing Gran's process, which uses a program called Manga Studio, to pencil-and-ink.

Lethem's tale for Marvel Comics focuses not on a spandex-and-cape hero, but instead on a mysterious young boy orphaned by robot parents and protected by, well, a spandex-and-cape hero. The take is an original one, or at least it was in 1977. Instead of tackling one of Marvel's big guns, Lethem chose to retell Omega, lifting much of the new comic's plot and dialog from that of first issue, published 30 years ago.

Originally announced in 2005 to debut in 2006, the book faced many delays, added a co-writer (Lethem's childhood friend Karl Rusnak), and finally came out in 2007. First issue sales neared a respectable 20K, but decreased to just under 14K for the second issue. The ten-issue limited series is planned to be eventually released as a hard-cover graphic novel, to be published after the series finale in late summer. It has received generally positive reviews from comics fans, who have described it as "very last episode of St. Elsewhere-ish".