In what is perhaps the greatest parody marketing image I’ve seen this year, Image Comics announced today that it seems Mark Grayson will be joining up with the Guardians of the Globe in an August issue of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible.

For those of us who read the book on a regular basis, this comes as somewhat of a surprise, seeing how Mark left the entire government operation in recent issues.

This could be a great storyline coming up…

…or they could just be teasing us to tease Marvel for their oddly put together campaign.  In either case, I’m planning on reading Invincible no matter what and you should, too.

You can (and should) catch up on Invincible.  Get it from your local comics shop or order them here on Amazon.

Tlyer Kirkham is currently known for his work on the Marvel crossover series Fusion, but his career has had him working on titles such as Strykeforce, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Broken Trinity, Spider-Man and about a dozen others. Today you can read about his career and his look at local and national comics as he chats with Gavin Sheehan of City Weekly.

Tyler Kirkham’s interview on Gavin’s Underground

Gavin: How did the opportunity come about to work at Image Comics?

Tyler: I got really lucky I think. I started going to more conventions and really trying to pursue comics. I had a really cool art teacher in high school. He let us do what we wanted. So and few friends and I worked on our own comics. So what happened is I had a friend on a church mission is California. He was living in a house with another guy that also liked art and comics. I would send my friend my art and he would show people. The other guy that lived in the house said, “I know where a comic studio is that’s real close.” He took my art to the Top Cow offices. He showed one of the editors there. She saw promise in my art, but I still wasn’t ready. Now I had an in though. I would always do new work and show this editor, or if I went to a convention I would talk to her. So what happened is she was working with a the writer of The Gift. He was looking for a young artist. I wasn’t ready to work at Top Cow yet, but this was something good for me to wet my feet and grow as an artist.

Gavin: Going national, what’s your take on the comic book industry as it stands right now?

Tyler: I like the comic scene right now. I really love what Marvel and DC are doing as well at Top Cow. I love seeing all the films coming from comics. I think its great for comics. There are a lot of great stories and creators in comics and I think its smart for Hollywood to notice and take advantage of all the talent.

A lot of people have been buzzing about, talking about Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s zombie masterpiece The Walking Dead.

What not a lot of people have been talking about is casting of the lead, Rick Grimes.

Big Shiny Robot! has talked to a few different sources about names that are in the ring for the series and we’re pretty happy.  There are a couple of sources we talked to with varying reliability, but these names all made a lot of sense, so we want to throw these out there and get the conversation going.  If you don’t know about Walking Dead and have never read it, it’s perhaps one of the best comics being published today.  Grab the first trade from Amazon right here and you won’t regret it.

The most reliable sources point us to Jamie Bamber as in the running for Rick.  You might remember him from Battlestar Galactica playing Lee Adama.

I’m in the midst of watching BSG for the first time now and I have to say, this would be a great choice.  He’s a strong actor, has the right look and handles televised drama really well.

Next on the list is Mark Pellegrino, who is on Dexter and plays Jacob on Lost.

He has a little bit less of the look, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t work.  He’s an incredibly talented actor and any show would do well with him at the helm.  And really, doesn’t he look like a guy that would make the hard choices in a zombie apocolypse?

And then the last name on the list.  Stuart Townsend.  The “would-be”  King of Middle Earth.  The “would-be” Asgardian….

I’m assuming he could work, but I haven’t seen him in much of anything as he seems to always get replaced at the last minute.  If he does get cast, I’d expect that to happen again.  But who knows.

As far as all three of these possibilities, I’d actually be really happy with any of them.

What do you guys think?

This week, Clang! Boom! Steam! takes on The Walking Dead. Like always, if you live in the Salt Lake City or Park City area, pick up a copy of IN magazine.

If you want, you can check out the online version here.

Or you can click the larger version below:

This is pretty much the end-all-be-all as far as Invincible is concerned.  The Viltrumite invasion of Earth is going to be epic and we’re all going to read it and we all know we’re all going to read it.

Who will live?  Who will die?  What will happen with Eve’s pregnancy?  Will she lose the baby in the fight?  How might that make Mark feel?

We’ll see it all unfold as soon as issue #71 hits stands.

In the meantime, please to enjoy this excellent piece of artwork from series regular and friend of Big Shiny Robot! Ryan Ottley.

Yesterday Marvel unveiled Tony Stark’s new Iron Man armor that he’s going to be kicking ass in starting in April. Unfortunately, I don’t follow Invincible Iron Man, so I’m not sure what’s going on in the story right now that might cause Stark to need new and improved armor. There’s a plus-side to my ignorance though in that you will be spared my commentary on this matter except for this: I think the new armor looks pretty badass.

Here’s what Invincible Iron Man writer, Matt Fraction had to say about the new armor:

“The inspiration for the new design came from thinking about a sleeker, leaner, tougher Iron Man,” revealed Fraction. “If technology is increasingly getting smaller and lighter it seems like the Iron Man should do the same: ergonomic and aerodynamic. We were looking for something that felt as sleek and glossy as a sports car Tony Stark would covet. I love what we’ve come up with. It feels like the next evolutionary step in the Iron Man’s design.”

It seems as though Lionsgate received the feedback given by the good Dr. Cyborg. The Dr. felt like the new Iron Man 2 poster was superior to the Kick-Ass posters that have previously been released. Well, not to be out done, Lionsgate has released a new Kick-Ass poster featuring the Red Mist! Hopefully, this is up to Dr. Cyborg’s standards!

Kick-Ass opens on April 16, 2010 and you can check out the trailer here!

Enjoy! (click for High-Res version)

This weekend David Mack will come to Salt Lake City as part of the SLC Main Library’s “Literary Luminaries” showcase on Saturday. His finer works are currently on display in their gallery, and he’ll be on hand from 2-3PM to talk to the crowd. But before then, City Weekly‘s own Gavin Sheehan got a quick interview with the man about his work on both Kabuki and Daredevil, plus talking about his art style and approach.  A read definitely worth checking out.

Gavin’s Undergound interview with David Mack

Gavin: The artistic styling and even writing are very different to that of traditional comics. What made you want to design it out this way?

David: I start with the story first. I’m a writer first. Then I find a way to use the art as a tool of the story. I try to choose the visual approach that best fits with each individual story. I like to design a new look and storytelling style for each project. I like that comic books and graphic novels are a limber and fertile enough of a medium to do this each time. When it is done best, the art and story are indistinguishable from one another.

Gavin: Something that sets you a part from most current artists is that you don’t really do computer graphic design, you do actual artistic pieces. What made you go in that direction when most everything is being done digitally to some degree these days?

David: Its just my natural approach. I don’t have anything against a computer design approach. I respect what people are doing with it. And I may try it some time for a specific project. But so far I haven’t felt the urge to do so, and I like working with my hands, and that approach seemed right for the stories I was doing. But I bet there will be a story some day that may make me want to experiment with it. Alex Maleev is doing a great job with it on his Daredevil work and his new Spider-Woman series with Brian Bendis. That said, I never get tired of making art with my hands and the handmade approach of dealing with 3D materials.

As you all know, The highly anticipated Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks is coming to the Nintendo DS December 7th.

Our friends at Nintendo have been so kind as to put out some new footage of the game that includes the entire opening sequence.

They’ve also released some cool new game artwork! (Click the Images below to make them grow!)

UPDATED PHOTO’S: Nintendo just released screen shots of Multi-player gameplay!

As I’ve stated on the site several times now, this is my most anticipated video game release coming out for the rest of the year, so if you haven’t already pre-ordered your copy, do it now! Hopefully we’ll have a full game review up soon.

Also check out my Nintendo Christmas wish list here!

IGN has posted the four new character posters from the upcoming Kick-Ass movie set to open on April 16 from Lionsgate Studios! You can check out all four of the posters by clicking the picture below!

In the world of Kick-Ass, superheroes only exist in comic books. That is, until high-school student Dave Lizewski puts on a costume and takes to patrolling the streets at night to right the wrongs that no one else can. So it is in Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s hugely popular comic series, which will soon be a Lionsgate film starring Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and directed by Layer Cake’s Matthew Vaughn.