Look kids, it's the TARDIS from Doctor Who! And... random body parts of Matt Smith floating in liquid flesh. Suitable for ages 5+, collect them all! (via Bigbadtoystore)

As much as I love the Marvel vs. Capcom games -- especially the third one, which allows you to create the Mike Haggar/MODOK team-up that we've all been dreaming of -- there's always been a part of me that wished Capcom would team up with DC instead to make a Batman game. It seems like such a natural step, what with it being centered on martial artist with an extremely colorful cast of allies and enemies, but the two games that have come closest, the Super NES's Justice League Task Force and the more recent Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, have been somewhat terrible lacking.

That's why I'm keenly interested in Batman: Gotham Knights, a fan-made fighting game using the MUGEN engine and completely original sprites to create a Capcom-style fighter witha cast of 20 characters -- including two Batmen, two Robins, the Joker, Harley Quinn, Black Canary and others! And I know I say this a lot [Editor's note: He does], but judging by the work-in-progress trailer released on YouTube, it might be the best thing ever.

Like Moebius, Katsuhiro Otomo is a creator's creator. He's perhaps best known for the animated version of Akira, his beautiful feature film about the perils of power, but before it was a movie Akira was a manga, and Otomo's work on it is astounding. Akira is incredibly detailed, sprawling, funny, violent, and wonderful. It's everything the movie was meant to be, and considering how well the movie has aged, that's saying a lot. The cartoonist Zack Soto has chosen to follow in the footsteps of quenched consciousness by creating Otomblr, a shrine dedicated to Otomo's art. That means that now's as good a time as any to tell you what makes Otomo so great.

Cartoon Network's got a pretty nice-looking rebooted ThunderCats series on the way, but for fans of a certain age, there'll always be a fondness for the original series in all its Snarfy glory. Like a lot of cartoons from the '80s, the quality of the T-Cats' adventures varied wildly from episode to episode, but its awesome opening sequence inspired fans to absorb whatever radness/nonsense followed it with glee. Capitalizing on this nostalgia, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon staged a live action visit from a "cabaret show" Panthro earlier this week. Naturally, it ruled. See Panthro perform the classic ThunderCats theme song with The Roots and two dancing ladies after the jump.

'Green Lantern' cleared 50 million bucks on its opening weekend, and while others will undoubtedly discuss what that means for the movie, a possible franchise and DC Comics, what's vastly more interesting is talking about the movie itself. It was entertaining, but flawed. After the jump, we're going to sit down and discuss five things about 'Green Lantern' -- four things it got wrong and one thing it got right. SPOILERS FOLLOW.

Gene Colan, celebrated comic book artist of nearly 70 years passed away in hospice in The Bronx on Thursday night following complications of liver disease and a broken hip, according to the AP.

A statement from Bryan Headly on Colan's official site reads, "I regret to tell you that Gene passed away on 6/23/2011, around 11pm. Gene had ongoing health issues with his liver, heart and cancer. He was a fighter to the end, making plans on leaving the hospice to return home. He wanted me to price him a VW Beetle."

Colan, 84, was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2005 following a career that included contributions to Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish, Captain America, Howard the Duck, The Avengers, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel and dozens more across the comic book industry. Capable in every avenue of comics illustration, Colan's work on Tomb of Dracula, Daredevil, Detective Comics and Batman resonates especially deeply with us here at ComicsAlliance.

Among Colan's many character contributions to comics are the co-creation of Falcon with Stan Lee and Blade with Marv Wolfman.

On sale this week from Marvel Comics is FF #5, continuing the long awaited "War of Four Cities" storyline. Written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by guest artist Barry Kitson, the story finds Mr. Fantastic assembling his worst enemies to help defend our universe from a war being waged by Reed Richardses from other dimensions. In the new issue, one of the Council of Reeds takes the fight to Atlantis, which is defended by the Invisible Woman and Spider-Man. Also, a wayward Marvel hero returns to join the fray...

Here at ComicsAlliance, we value our readership and are always open to what the masses of Internet readers have to say. That's every week, Senior Writer Chris Sims puts his comics culture knowledge to the test as he responds to your reader questions!


Q: Batman dies, and leaves Robin in a My Two Dads situation. Which superheroes does he select as dads? -- @MagicLoveHose

A: For those of you who haven't been listening to War Rocket Ajax -- the podcast that Matt Wilson and I produce each and every week right here at ComicsAlliance -- I've been thinking a lot about the sitcom My Two Dads lately. It's gotten to the point where I've actually had a conversation about it once a week for an entire month, which I'm pretty sure no one, even the people directly involved in the show, have done since at least 1993. And yet, as hard as it might be to believe coming from the World's Foremost Batmanologist, this is the first time I've thought of it in the context of my usual obsession. If only you'd found a way to work the Bring It On franchise in there, you would've hit the trifecta.

Along with the new full-length theatrical trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures have released a new poster for the film that features star Chris Evans in a classically patriotic posture. The new image comes just a few days after artist Paolo Rivera's illustrated, propaganda-style poster of Chris Evans' Cap giving Adolf Hitler a brutal clobbering.

Check out the complete image after the jump.

If you mostly stuck to skimming the classic, if nonsensical, works of Lewis Carroll in school, fear not! Thor: The Mighty Avenger and Muppet Show alumnus Roger Langridge has got something for you, your nephew, your mom and even your grandma to make up for lost time. Coming this August, Langridge's Snarked! #0 from Boom! Studios' Kaboom! imprint remixes scads of relevant Carroll references into an ongoing original comic for readers of all ages. We interviewed Langridge about his inspiration for the upcoming series and learned how his idea for a literary mashup evolved into a full-color, kid-friendly monthly comic. Read the full interview and Snarked! #0 preview after the jump.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists and/or specific bodies of work, but there's just so much great work to see that we've initiated Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the virtually countless pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the digital media landscape. Some of it's new, some of it's old, some of it's created by working professionals, some of it's created by talented fans, and some of it's endearingly stupid. All of it's awesome.