A quick update – new images of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime are now available, as book covers. Bumblebee graces the cover of a sticker book, and Optimus is on the cover of the movie novel, sure to be a literary wonder for all time. The synopsis for the novel actually reads:

The Transformers are back – hitting cinemas in June 07 – and this time they have even more battles to win! Now you can read their adventure in this action-packed novel! Get ready for the return of the mighty Transformers in the action packed movie novel! Filled with amazing battle stories, this retelling of the Transformers story is perfect for older fans. It even includes cool movie photo inserts!

Both books should be available for purchase on July 4th.

IESB.net brings us the initial news and the cover images, which are mirrored after the jump.

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There’s a new trailer available at the Invincible Iron Man official site, and it gives a decent glimpse of what the story will be like in the movie. It’s an interesting choice of enemies for Iron Man – ancient Chinese elemental creatures? It hardly feels like any sort of a definitive Iron Man story, let alone one worth using in his premiere solo adventure … until you check some of the desktop images at the site, clearly showing classic Iron Man villain Mandarin playing a large role in matters. Not that Mandarin’s role has been a secret mind you – It was in the advertised synopsis since day one. Just makes it all the more odd that he’s being hidden in the trailer.

As for the movie, I’m wondering how we’re going to go through three different armors (initial grey, underwater yellow, and good classic old ketchup-and-mustard, er, red-and-gold) over the course of a single story. I guess only time – 19 days to be exact – will tell.

Also, the Hellboy Animated movie (Sword of Storms) has a sequel due to hit in February, called Blood and Iron. The trailer can be found HERE. According to the Animated Hellboy blog, one of the scenes from the trailer isn’t from the movie; it’s from an “extra special DVD extra”, whatever that might mean. The blog also talks about plans for a third movie to follow this one, but will only be greenlit if DVD sales warrant it.

Manhunter #27
written by Marc Andreyko, art by Javier Pina and Robin Riggs

Manhunter launched in the aftermath of Identity Crisis (was it really two years ago???), and I ignored it, because books that launch from events have a bad habit of being rushed to market, capitalizing on the event’s success instead of being carefully crafted. As a result, I missed out on what has turned out to be a surprisingly excellent book. And, it turns out, so did most people, as the book was slated to be canceled at issue #25. Fortunately, the powers that be at DC have given it a 5 issue stay of execution, starting with #26!

To be honest, I only started picking it up at the previous arc, which ended with Kate Spencer (Manhunter) driving an electric blade into Dr. Psycho‘s forehead and snapping the blade off, for the sole purpose of (effectively) shutting down his mind-control powers. This actually took place in the middle of a courtroom too, as she happened to be the lawyer DEFENDING HIM. Interestingly, the verdict had just come in, but hadn’t been read before he went bananas – she managed to get Psycho a “not guilty” verdict!

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So 2006 has come and passed, and that means it’s time for retrospectives. In the world of comics, it’s been a busy year, and while everyone’s going to tell you what was the best and what was the worst, what I want to look at is what books surpassed their hype, and what books made you regret (or at least SHOULD make you regret) forking over your hard-earned cash. So here they are: Five books that made me look forward to the next issue and everything that the creative team will ever produce in the future … and five books that might make me wish I’d just set my money on fire instead, because at least my brain wouldn’t have those abominations permanently etched into its squiggly wrinkles.

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If you live on the West Coast, you better bust your hump on Thursday to get into your comic shop early. For some reason, retailers are getting screwed to a ridiculous degree on their order quantities of Civil War issue #6. In the words of retailer Brian Hibbs of San Francisco, “it looks like EVERY West Coast retailer is getting massively allocated (to the tune of 10-15% — I ordered 100 copies, and am recieving 14) on CIVIL WAR #6 this week.”

There’s no way of knowing why, as Diamond Distributors has done nothing to warn or notify retailers as to the hows or whys of it all, which of course is par for the course. Suffice to say, if your West Coast store typically orders 100 copies, you’d better be one of the first 14 in the door, and be one of the weekly regulars, because otherwise all your punk friends in Baltimore and Boston will be laughing at you all week long.

Astonishing X-Men #19
written by Joss Whedon, art by John Cassaday

Hey you! New comics come out on Thursday this week! I realize that this could be considered late notice… but maybe it’s just early notice for next week?

Um, so while this is allegedly the kickstart to Whedon and Cassaday’s final arc on the book, it’s really the mid-point of their final 12-issue arc. Regardless, with its strangely delayed release schedule, now’s as good a time as any to remind you that it happens to be coming out, specifically today.

I suppose I could try and sell the concept to you, but if you’re not reading it already, I somehow doubt you’re going to pull your head from your rump and give it a fresh shot now. And if you are reading it… Man, how horrible was that “Dangerous” arc? I hated that. Crippled Professor X driving a truck? Was this really the same guy who’s written the other 12 issues we’ve gotten? Anyway, if the last 6 issues are any measure, these final 6 should be awesome. And according to the image, it arrives in November! So, you know, you should keep an eye out for it. In November.

(Or today.)

It’s Christmas Eve, and what better time to watch an old Christmas special, like this Claymation Christmas CLASSIC:

You can find a plethora of Christmas specials like this, all in their entirety ALL RIGHT HERE, from It’s A Wonderful Life, to the stop-motion classic Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, to less obvious selections like The Office’s recent Christmas episode, or even the Star Wars Holiday Special (Part 1, and Part 2). It’s Christmas everybody, so even if you don’t celebrate it, ’tis definitely the season to watch a video of Chewbacca celebrating it.

IDW, the publisher currently bringing Transformers comics to the stands, has released info about a Movie Prequel Comic that will be starting in February 2007. It’s a four-part mini, with the books being 32 pages each, and it’s being written by Chris Ryall (Zombies VS. Robots) and Simon Furman (more Transformers books than can possibly be listed), with Don Figueroa (not as many as Furman, but plenty nonetheless) on art. Interestingly, Ryall also happens to be IDW’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief.

Here’s what he had to say about the book:

This is no peripheral movie tie-in. Rather, it’s a fully realized, generations-spanning tale that also sets up and explains much of the backstory in the coming movie. With Paramount and Hasbro’s assistance, we’re able to show you the characters and explain some situations that are integral parts of the movie. It should also assuage any early fan trepidation and show that this prequel and the movie together are going to comprise quite an epic TRASNFORMERS story.

Ultimately, while I’m unfamiliar with Ryall’s previous work – and I’m a little curious how the writing chores are being split up – with big guns Furman and Figueroa attached to this project, this books is sizing up to be a pretty safe bet for my money. And what’s more, if that blacked out image is any indication, this book should provide a clear look at what some of the characters – if not all – will look like, at least with Cybertronian alt-modes.

UPDATE: Wizard has a short blurb on the book with the full version of the blacked-out image colored.