We spoke with Lou Ferrigno about the evolution of Wizard World Comic-Con; his advice for teen victims of bullying; and his voice-over role in the upcoming film “The Avengers.”. more ›

Ever since spotting his first book, Clumsy, at Quimby's, we've been under the spell of Jeffrey Brown. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Brown moved to Chicago to pursue an MFA at the School of the Art Institute. Clumsy was his thesis project. Since then he's created dozens of mini-comics, "graphic memoirs," and other books. He even directed an animated video of the Death Cab for Cutie song "Your Heart is an Empty Room." more ›

This past weekend, the second annual Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) took place at McCormick Place for three days of comics, real-time strategy, toys, cosplay and overall general nerdery. Last year's expo was a nice surprise and had its share of sights and sounds, but this year upped the ante. Thor's Chris Hemsworth was the guest of honor and was joined by a respectable list of entertainers, artists and authors including Eliza Dushku, Danny McBride and Patton Oswalt. There were a bevy of industry panels and film screenings, including the gritty, independent Boy Wonder. But while C2E2 continues to grow and make a name for itself among the comic industry's lengthy list of conventions, what makes the expo so entertaining is the people that attend. Dressed as superheroes, anime characters, fairies and wookies, it's the fans that will always be the lifeline of a comics convention. Have a look for yourself in our gallery. more ›

Now we've seen everything. In honor of Barack Obama's inauguration, Marvel Comics is publishing an issue of The Amazing Spider-Man in which Spider-Man helps prevent an evil plot against the President-Elect. Photographer Peter Parker knows something's up when, while taking pictures at the inauguration, he spots an evil twin Obama and employs basketball skills as a way to detect which Obama is the real one. No, we're not making this up. The issue, Amazing Spider-Man #583, hits shelves next Wednesday, January 14 ($3.99). Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor-in-chief, said the issue was to give Obama, who has talked about how he used to collect Spider-Man comics growing up, a "shout-out back." Quesada elaborated, "How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief. It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We're all thrilled with that." While this does seem kind of silly, we admit we still think it's kind of awesome. The best part? When Obama and Spidey share a terrorist fist jab. more ›

A CTA bus crashed into a building near 76th and Ashland. [Trib] more ›

While some comic books still strive stylistically for the muscled-up, spandex-wearing men and women of comics' heyday, the image of heroes is beginning to change—in lots of ways. more ›

Having stayed up last night to watch the midnight showing of with all the other nerds, we enjoyed ourselves but came away feeling more than a little nostalgic for the good ole days of paper comics. more ›

Spring is in the air, and we're going to try something different this month for "BotW." For April, we're featuring selections from a single brewery we feel deserves some recognition, and chose Durango, Colorado's Ska Brewing Company. We e-mailed Ska co-founder Bill Graham last month, who gave us some background on the company: more ›

Though I’m a staunch defender of Chicagoist’s editorial we, and abhor anything that smacks of grandstanding, I’m also not without an ego. So permit me a brief indulgence as (per precedent) I take a moment to rock some first-person singular and say goodbye. more ›

Chicagoist loves us some comics. So we were particularly pleased to see one of Chicago’s most famous practitioners of the art form, Chris Ware, receive a $50,000 grant for his work along with local artist Nick Cave (not that one) and 11 other visual artists. more ›

Starting November 10, Cub Foods will introduce a biometric payment technology option at all of its Chicago locations. What the shit is biometric payment technology you ask? Well, it allows you to pay for things with your fingerprint! Finally, right? more ›

Adam Kempenaar and Sam Hallgren, Cinecasters more ›

fame) and special guests Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Kelly Hu, and Amber Benson. You can download .pdfs for todayFriday, Saturday, and Sunday's programming. Stupid .pdfs. more ›

A number of the most important figures in the world graphic novels (a more artsy and less-juvenile way of saying “comic books”) are hometown boys. Dan Clowes – author of the Eightball series and the Ghost World comic and screenplay – and Chris Ware – who has a weekly strip in the Reader and just edited McSweeney’s comics-only issue (oh, Dave Eggers, you so crazy!) – are two of the most prominent examples. And while their contemporary Adrian Tomine doesn’t hail from the shores of Lake Michigan – he foolishly spends his time on the coasts instead – at least he’ll be in town tonight promoting his latest collection, the odds-and-ends anthology Scrapbook. more ›