Tomorrow our favorite web head will meet his untimely demise… supposedly. It certainly seems as though he’ll die, but until I see it in print I don’t know that I believe they’ll murder their cash cow. Marvel sent over this press release:

THE  “ULTIMATE” SUPER HERO DEATH

Peter Parker Dies In Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160 In Stores Wednesday

New York, NY—June 21, 2011— PETER PARKER HAS SPUN HIS LAST WEB.  In the storyline that has garnered the attention of fans and media worldwide, Marvel revealed that Peter Parker meets his tragic end in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160, hitting stores tomorrow (Wednesday, June 22^nd). Concluding the critically-acclaimed, sold-out “Death of Spider-Man” story arc, the death of Peter Parker signals a major change for the Ultimate Comics Universe and sets the stage for the upcoming debut of an all-new Spider-Man.

“10 years ago, Brian Bendis and Mark Millar changed the way people saw super heroes with the birth of the Ultimate Universe. With ‘Death of Spider-Man’ the two have done it again, creating a story just as big, and something that would really resonate with fans.” said Mark Paniccia, Marvel Senior Editor.  “But Peter’s death doesn’t signal the end of their larger plan—it’s the start of one of the most ambitious stories you’ve ever read in comics.”

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 debuted in 2000 and is widely considered one of the most important comics of the century. The progenitor of the Ultimate Comics Universe, in which Marvel’s greatest characters and stories were reinterpreted for modern audiences, Ultimate Spider-Man set records for trade paperback sales and its version of Spider-Man remains one of the most popular of all-time.

“We’ve never seen a world without Spider-Man, a world without Peter Parker, so his death is a significant event for the Ultimate Comics Universe and we’re going to see how quickly it changes everything. Readers are in for something very new…and surprising because everything that happens in Ultimate Spider-Man #160 and Ultimate Comics Fallout sets the stage for even bigger stories,” explained Axel Alonso, Marvel Entertainment Editor In Chief.

The story continues in July’s Ultimate Comics Fallout, picking up right after the death of Spider-Man and showing just what happens to the world without Peter Parker. New alliances! New enemies! Fans can’t afford to miss the dynamic debut of the new Spider-Man in the pages of Ultimate Comics Fallout—and you won’t believe who’s under the mask!

Like most Marvel fans, I’ll be picking up my issue tomorrow to see just how this all goes down. After the last issue, the deck is certainly stacked against Spider-Man.

With last year’s Batman XXX: A Porn Parody, it was proven that you can titillate and entertain, while being extremely faithful to source material. Since the success of that movie, there has been a veritable explosion (no pun intended) of Superhero porn parodies. Some have been better than others (not that I’d know), but with the upcoming Spider-Man XXX, hopes are high for another faithful adaptation due to the direction of Axel Braun, he who helmed last year’s Batman. The people at Vivid entertainment were kind enough to send along a rough cut of the opening credits and the official poster for the film. Electro aside, it’s pretty faithful to the Raimi movies.

Well, faithful in style, at least. I’m really surprised that they’d include the Black Widow and not the Black Cat. Well, if nothing else, Spider-Man will be sure to shoot a sticky substance from his body, and there’ll probably be some web-slinging too. What do you all think of Superhero porn? Is it sexy, or just silly?

Spider-Man is obviously a popular character, he has been since his creation in 1962. A lot of the character’s popularity has to do with the groundwork laid by two men, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spidey’s co-creators. Sadly, while the duo had a good run, creative differences between the creators ended their collaboration after a 38-issue run. Since then, Ditko has no longer been associated with Spider-Man… until today!

Yes, in today’s Amazing Spider-Man Sunday Spectacular Steve Ditko makes an uncredited appearance! The book, collecting Stan Lee and Marcos Martin’s acclaimed 2-page back up tales. It also includes an all new tale called “Identity Crisis” where Spider-Man sees a psychiatrist who looks amazingly like a certain Stan “The Man” Lee…

"Dr. Madder" sure looks like Stan Lee throughout the years.

Over the course of the story, Spider-Man talks to “Dr. Madder” about the insane convolutions of his life, eventually driving Madder, well, mad. That’s when things get interesting.  The doctor that Madder goes to see could possibly be a stand-in for Ditko. Having a copy of Atlas Shrugged certainly alludes to Ditko’s known embrace of Objectivism. Still, since he’s shrouded in shadow, there’s no way to know for sure. Then, my geek brain kicked in. It is absolutely Ditko. The proof lies in a story from 1964: “How Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man!” From Amazing Spider-Man annual #1. In that story, Stan & Steve appear as themselves and tell a humorous, possibly telling, version of their working relationship. When I looked back at that issue and compared it to the one in today’s issue, there’s no doubt.

Not only is that pretty telling, but it’s also pretty cool.  I hope that if he sees this, Mr. Ditko will take it as the loving homage that it is and not anything with malicious intent. Well, that’s my independent research for today, hope you enjoyed it!

It seems that on any given day some website out there has a new set of pictures from the set of The Amazing Spider-Man. Some are more exciting and better than others, but this most recent round really caught my eye.

Below are some really cool pictures of Spidey doing some web-slinging around Harlem. I’m sure there is going to be plenty of CG in this film, but it looks like they are trying to do a lot of practical-effect shots of Spider-Man swinging around New York as well. I imagine this is a hard effect to achieve and have look right and fluid using cables and a stunt man, but from these stills it looks as though they are doing a very decent job at it!

At this point I have a lot of faith in what Marc Webb seems to be doing with the Spider-Man franchise, but that is only a judgement from what I have seen from the slew of set pics that have flooded the internet. I’m sold on the costume, I think Andrew Garfield looks like Peter Parker, and Emma Stone has the Gwen Stacy look down! In fact, I included some additional non-action pictures of the two of them just because I’m so pleased with the looks!

The Amazing Spider-Man opens on July 3, 2012, is directed by Marc Webb, and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen and Sally Field.

You can check out plenty more set pictures at Splash News Online, and Daily Mail!

Marvel certainly like to reveal plot details in nationally read news outlets. Today, one such establishment, the New York Post revealed details on what’s going on in Ultimate Spider-Man after the current “Death of Spider-Man” storyline.  While it’s unclear is Spider-Man/Peter Parker actually dies, there is apparently a new webhead on the block. Here’s what the Post article has to say about the matter.

Marvel Comics’ most popular character is getting a hip new look – and a new person wearing the webs.

“That’s not Peter Parker,” Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso told The Post. “There’s going to be someone new wearing the costume.”

The new webslinger and the new look – a sleek black and red costume revealed here for the first time – will make their debut at some point this summer, after the conclusion of the ominously titled “Death of Spider-Man” storyline in June’s Ultimate Spider-Man No. 160.

The comic will be polybagged, and will shake the comic book world to the core. “It’s unlike anything you’ve seen before,” Alonso said.

The shakeup marks the first time someone else will be catching thieves just like flies in the “Spider-Man” titles besides Peter (or a clone of Peter – don’t ask) in the character’s almost 50-year history in either the traditional “Marvel Universe” or the more recent “Ultimate Universe.”

Alonso wouldn’t reveal much more about the new wallcrawler – “there’s significance in the color scheme,” he teased – but the image’s release is another bad sign for Peter Parker, who in the ten-year-old Ultimate line of comics is still a Queens high school student.

The perpetually hard luck teen was shot through the gut by anti-hero the Punisher at the close of last week’s issue while trying save Captain America. Comic fans have been burning up the internet speculating whether Peter might survive the storyline, even if his web slinging days are over. Alonso wouldn’t reveal his ultimate fate, but said, “We did call it ‘The Death of Spider-Man’ for a reason.”

An adult Peter Parker will still be manning the role of friendly neighborhood wall-crawler in the regular Marvel Universe “Amazing Spider-Man” title.

And here’s a better look at the new Spider-Person…

Now, I don’t begrudge Marvel wanting to get this news out to a public that may not actually read the comic books, but it still irks me for a few reasons. First, even though it specifies in the article that it’s Ultimate Spider-Man in the story, the man on the street doesn’t know the difference between two versions of the same character. Second, Axel Alonso’s claim that this will “shake the comic world to the core” smack of hyperbole, and not the good Stan Lee kind of hyperbole. Lastly, there is a new Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon debuting soon. In the name of corporate synergy, I can see this lasting anyway.

Apologies for the rant, there are some positives. I really like the costume, for one. The fact that Alonso is being kind of cagey and wording things carefully in my mind, makes me think that only “Spider-Man” dies, not Peter Parker. Time will tell I suppose. What do you all think?

Well it has finally come around for my turn on the “Whats in my Bag” game. I have to say I was really nervous about this, as I have read all the other posts for this little project, and I thought “I don’t have anything cool in my bag at all”. Everyone has computers, smart phones, nice head phones, and big fat hard drives. I have some of those things – they just don’t live in my bag. In comparison to my comrades here at Big Shiny Robot! my bag is pretty boring!

I am a girl – so I own many bags, and I change them out according to situation and what I can expect to need to carry. But this article features my current every day bag. While it looks more messenger style – it is basically a purse. A common off brand fake leather fashion purse I picked up on sale at a local shop (you are bored to tears already I can tell). I was really surprised though when I emptied out its many zippered pockets and primary pouch how much stuff I have been hauling around with me of late.

Starting Top Left and moving clockwise is firstly my sticker covered sketchbook. I have been drawing since I was 5 and carrying a sketchbook on me regularly since high school. I have not drawn as much of late as I would like to (the internet being the main villain in that plot) but I still carry it with me most of the time. The “Save the Trolls!” stickers are from the “Secret Device” ARG from Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. There is also a sticker with the logo for deltorofilms.com, a coffee company, a Radiohead “in Rainbows” sticker, a bunch of Threadless.com stickers (which they send you when you order stuff), and on the back which is not shown are a bunch of mimobot stickers. All of which I am enamoured of.

Top and Center is the book I am currently reading You Are Not a Gadget By Jaron Lanier. I bought this a while ago and am just getting to reading it. So far it is proving to be good brain food. Just below the book on the right are my collection of lip products which I will just skip talking about because it would bore you to death…. Then center it is a “safety matches” tin that I use to hold my gum eraser and extra automatic pencil refills. Left is my handy dandy on-the-go collection of Pilot V5 extra fine pens, a regular Sharpie, Sakura brush pens, a Copic two sided marker, and an automatic pencil. It wouldn’t make much sense to have the sketch book and nothing to sketch with.

Top Right is a stack of comics I have picked up of late and have been reading and rereading. I am really loving the most recent Chris Bachalo illustrated X-Men run with Spider-man. Other titles in the stack are the recent Mark Millar run of Avenger’s, Age of X story arch titles, and Amazing Spider-man. Then Top Right and Lower you have a note book also bedecked in stickers. I always like to have a note book because I always have the delusion that inspiration will strike and I will want to write something worth while on my lunch break. This never happens. Right now this notebook is full of odd notes such as the various prices of lumber , renovation,and landscaping materials (summer is almost here), phone numbers of new friends and contacts, the occasional URL, and lots of random crap.

Lower Right is my Tracfone. Yes that is right – I don’t even have a proper grown up cell phone or smart phone, I have a tracfone. I agree if you think that I take a penalty to my nerdiness for this. No, I am not a drug dealer, or other nefarious type. I live in a rural area – and we still don’t have a very good cell phone network up here. So while I like to have a cell phone for when I am traveling – lets say to a city, it makes no logical sense to pay for a monthly proper phone plan as I can’t even get a cell signal at my house. Next to the phone to it’s left is ANOTHER notebook. This lil thing is called a Wellspring Flip Note

Lower Center is a pile of loose change. ::shrugs:: The article is called “What’s in my bag” not “Only the cool/ worth talking about stuff in my bag”. Lower Left there is my wallet, which is old and near the time of replacing. I got it because it had a nifty pocket for my then brand new first generation ipod mini. Yeah – how long ago was that? Then there is the car charger for my phone. Middle Left are all of my keys with my UglyDoll Ice-Bat Keychain (small plush doll for key chain = easier to find an cavernous purse), a cough drop, a colgate wisp (which I highly endorse if like me you are the kind of person who will inevitably always have food in her teeth after a meal), and lastly – a wee little LED flash light. A BIG thank you to the small child that had a Halo Master Chief Halloween costume that was made of cardboard last fall; Who’s helmet that little flash light fell off of. It has proven hugely indispensable. And YES I know it makes me a bad person for keeping it.

NOT shown; After I took the photo’s for this I realized I forgot to check a pocket – so what you are not seeing is my prescription sun glasses. But really – that is no great loss. Nothing too geeky about them. They let me see the road well even when it is sunny. I know – REAL intriguing stuff no? And THAT is all that is in this nerd’s Bag. NEXT WEEK: Citizen-Bot!!!

Digital Comics are pretty great. It’s nice and convenient to have your reading library in the palm of your hand with the need for digging through longboxes all the time. It’s great that technology has progressed to a point where this is a feasible option. What if it wasn’t though? What if digital comics became a reality in the late 80’s/early 90’s? Of course, the comic companies would want to reach the widest audience possible, so they would create software on the dominate platform of the time, The Nintendo Entertainment System! Unfortunately, the NES had some graphical limitations, and both DC and Marvel would have had to get a bit creative. With that in mind, I’ve created what I think NES-style digital comics would look like! Of course, I’ve included the originals as well, so you can compare. (Click for full size)

DC  Comics Digital Archives: Thrill to the astounding exploits of the World’s Finest heroes, available in their own NES Paks! Using DC’s patented “panel-by-panel” view, you can view the earliest adventures of the Metropolis Marvel & the Dynamic Duo in a new and exciting way! Accompanied by the finest digitized soundtracks available, your reading experience will be increased a thousandfold! Witness the adventures of Superman, Batmean & Robin! Sold Separately MSRP: $59.99

Marvel Digital Masterworks: Greetings Merry Marvelites! The Marvel Bullpen is happy to bring you The first in our series of classic Marvel yarns! Thrill to the first exploits of the ever-amazing Spider-Man and the senses-shattering strength of The Incredible Hulk! With the officially licensed Nintendo Game Pak, you can experience the beginning adventures of your favorite superheroes in the boldest way possible. Each story has an intro by the digitized voice of Smilin’ Stan Lee! Face Front, True Believer, these digital comics are the real deal! Excelsior! 1 Issue Per Cartridge MSRP $59.99.

Well, with the limitations of the time, it probably wouldn’t be the greatest reading experience ever, but it’s fun to pretend, right?

It’s time for another installment of This Week IN Comics!

Big Shiny Robot! has a weekly column in the Salt Lake City alt-weekly IN Magazine and every week we bring it to you on the site.

If you live in the greater Salt Lake area, you can pick up a copy of IN Magazine up from one of their ubiquitous newsstands, and we would highly suggest that you do.

You can read the online version of the story here.

This week we’re directing people to Phil Sheldon, the protagonist in the incredible book Marvels.

It’s April Fool’s Day. While news gags today will be happening everywhere, they’re generally not going to be very funny and I doubt I’d be able to do a good one either. So, I’m not even going to try. What I will do is add one completely fake piece in today’s VGQH. See if you can spot it.

File this under rumor for now, but it appears a site maintenance error has leaked some information about possible Batman: Arkham City villains. Rocksteady accidentally posted what appears to be several new PSN avatars in their official forums, then immediately pulled them down. A few sites, including fan community arkhamcity.co.uk, posted the pictures but were asked to remove them. But, as things go on the internet, the information is still out. The picture I found is low-res, but at least Poison Ivy is clear. The others are tough to make out. It looks like Bane is on the left and Mr. Freeze is #4. The middle picture could be Clayface, Solomon Grundy, Blockbuster, or someone else. The last one is tenuous at best. Knowing the way Rocksteady has redesigned the appearance of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, my guess is that’s Penguin.

We’re getting used to seeing games with comic book tie-ins, and even some with traditional novel tie-ins. id Software’s Rage is doing both. While the game itself doesn’t have much attraction for me (I generally don’t care for FPS), the book and comics are appealing. The universe created has potential. The three issue comic is coming in June. The novel will be released August 30th, followed by the game on September 13th. [Side note: There’s a news bit floating around today that this game is being rebranded Fallout: Rage and will be entering the Fallout canon. Despite some story similarities I would be shocked if this proved to be anything other than one of those aforementioned bad April Fool’s jokes.]

You may have heard rumblings about the PlayStation Rewards program over the last few months. The concept was to reward players with avatars, Home content, themes, etc. based on a point system. Players would earn points for loading up a brand new game on their system, buying content from PSN, and in other ways. The beta has been running since October and the full program was expected next month. Sony hasn’t given details, but they have axed the program. Well, delayed it at least, and possibly canceled it. According to the official statement, Sony “remain[s] committed to providing the best overall consumer experience for our users, and we will be refocusing our efforts in the near future to further developing PlayStation Plus and our other network services. We will continue to find innovative ways to thank our loyal and devoted customers.”

The PlayStation 3 has a few new tricks up its sleeve with the recent additions of 3D support and the Move system. Both of these features are being added into Resistance 3. The game has already been scheduled for September 6, 2011 so this seems a little late to be adding these features. Move support probably isn’t that big a stretch to add quickly. On the other hand, the 3D announcement just feels way too much like what happens in the movie industry. If this is a rush job like Hollywood does in post-production, Resistance 3 could be the video game equivalent of Clash of the Titans.

In its latest display of legal thuggery, Activision has announced lawsuits against Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Sega, Neo Geo, Atari, and several other companies that have ever released a handheld or console gaming device. This comes after the announcement that Activision, no longer content to publish games on someone else’s platform, is building its own console for mass market release. The lawsuits allege the other console manfuacturers infringe on a patent Activision has issued to itself. The patent regards the use of a video screen or any portion of an individual’s brain or body to have fun. Individual lawsuits against people with an imagination are “being considered and likely pursued at the earliest opportunity.” The first wave of games for the new console is expected this holiday season, with all of their sequels to follow on a bi-weekly basis until cancellation next June.

If that last story sounds like nonsense, I urge you to reread the first paragraph.

I don’t know what it is this week with not so good pictures, but a couple screens of Max Payne 3 have been released with two different looks for the hard-boiled anti-hero. The game has no release date or plot details at this point, but pictures are usually a good indication that it’s on the way.

If you like open world games with lots of destruction there have been two great standouts this generation. Red Faction Guerrilla (2009) has its sequel, Armageddon, coming soon. Just Cause 2 improved on its predecessor in every way, giving players an obscene amount of mayhem. It now appears there will be a new destruction based open world game on the market. Avalanche, who developed Just Cause 2, is working with SEGA on a new IP, Renegade Ops. In addition to the single player mode, the vehicular combat game features two player split screen or four player online co-op. The game will be available this fall on XBLA and PSN. It will be the first entry for Avalanche, and the first new IP from SEGA, in the digital marketplace.

Last week I mentioned Amazon’s early posting of a greatest hits version of Mafia II that includes all of the DLC. Some retailers do have it in stock now, but it’s official release hasn’t happened yet. The greatest hits version is $29.99 and it does include all three DLC episodes and the preorder clothing packs. However, if you’re not interested in the extras, I saw the original packaging version on Amazon for $15.

It pains me to write this, but I feel obligated. If you’re planning to buy Michael Jackson: The Experience when it releases April 12th, you’d do well to preorder it from Wal-Mart. Not only do they have it going for $47, but they’ve wrangled themselves a bonus. Wal-Mart preorders will get his song, “Another Part of Me,” gratis.

If you’re like me, the announcement last July of Mega Man Universe brought a grin to your face. Go ahead and erase that grin. The game, which would have starred a stable of Capcom characters alongside user creations, has been canceled. Keiji Inafune, Mega Man’s creator, recently left the company. It’s a safe bet that was one of the “various circumstances” officially cited as the reason for the cancellation.

If you missed the announcement yesterday, Spider-Man: Edge of Time is coming to consoles in Fall 2011. I don’t have any more details yet, but that is exciting. Here’s a bigger version of the post-pic from yesterday (I love the image of Miguel in Spidey’s eye):

It’s been a few years since I’ve thought about the red-headed vampire known as Rayne. I was under the impression that was a good thing, but apparently she still has her fans. Bloodrayne: Betrayal is being developed by Way Forward and published by Majesco. Rayne is apparently leaving her third person action roots on PS2, opting for a 2D sidescroller coming to PSN and XBLA this summer.

If you’re one of the three people on the planet that still gets excited about SOCOM 4 news, the pre-order bonuses have been revealed. GameStop and Wal-Mart are offering the SU90-S in-game shotgun. But, for the same price, GameStop also has an extra multiplayer map. Unless anything changes between now and April 19th, it seems your decision should already be made.

There’s been a rash of job losses in the games industry over the last week. THQ cut 33 jobs between developers Volition and Kaos, mostly from the teams behind Saints’ Row the 3rd, Red Faction: Armageddon, and Homefront. At the same time, Sony Online Entertainment is shutting down their offices in Denver, Tucson, and Seattle. This eliminates 205 jobs, with those left being reassigned to San Diego. The remaining office is focusing on the Everquest game and PlanetSide Next. The elimination of the other offices means they have canceled The Agency, a spies and mercenaries MMO that had been in development for three years. Sad news for those impacted and we wish them the best in their new pursuits.

That about does it for the news bits I feel I can trust right now. Being April Fool’s day, I don’t necessarily believe all of the information that comes to me. If any of it proves to be true into next week I’ll report on it Tuesday. Check back then for more information.

Peter David, co-creator of Spider-Man 2099, is lead writer on a new wall crawler game from Marvel, Activision, and Beenox. Beenox developed Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, one of the best Spidey titles to date.

The new game, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, is scheduled for multi-console release this fall. It will feature the Amazing and 2099 versions of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. The player will be fighting against time to prevent the death of Peter Parker. Actions taken in one timeline will affect the world and gameplay in the other. Sounds like a great mechanic. My pre-order finger is itching already.