Someone up there is doing Chicago a solid because amid museum closings and NATO hoopla, cartoon genius and former Chicagoan Daniel Clowes touches down in his hometown tonight for a several events running through the weekend. more ›

On May 8, the Guild Literary Complex holds their Annual Benefit titled "Illuminate." The theme for this 2012 shebang is none other than the very apt form of the graphic novel. more ›

About a year ago, we interviewed comic artist Jeffrey Brown about Incredible Change-Bots 2, his wacky parody of the Transformers. We're thrilled to report that his new comic book, Darth Vader and Son is out and ready to be consumed. The book, in the most adorable way possible, poses the question: what if Darth Vader were an involved father? By "involved" we don't mean that Vader earns the award for most attentive and loving father, instead Brown depicts our favorite un-cuddly villain as an annoyed but indulging dad for Luke. The possibilities for awkward father-son moments is limitless, and Brown's humor is spot on. In his lengthy repertoire of work, Jeffrey Brown has had numerous books published which you might be familiar with, including Clumsy, Unlikely, or Cat Getting Out of a Bag and Other Observations. And if you're not acquainted with any of the above, there will be a chance for that to change. more ›

It may be the only exclusive comic Ware draws for an iPad. more ›

In an upcoming Issue #666 (totally not kidding about this) in the Amazing Spider-Man comic book series, Spider-Man will save our very own Chicago Comics from destruction. more ›

Tomorrow's the first Saturday of May, and any comic book fan knows what that means. It's comic book Christmas, a.k.a. Free Comic Book Day, a.k.a. FCBD, when stores nationwide give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. Publishers provide the comic books, so this isn't bad for business. In fact, it's great for these local shops because it'll bring more people in the door. So stop buy and grab a free comic, and maybe buy one, too! The 2011 free Gold Comics include Amazing Spiderman, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Green Lantern: Secret Origin. Below are the participating Chicagoland shops (if you know of any more, please let us know in the comments and we'll add them to the post): more ›

Roger Ebert is endlessly retweetable, but in this case he's outdone himself. more ›

Matthew Inman, the creator of the Web comic The Oatmeal, has cultivated a massive following based on his unique ability to visually taser just about everyone from crappy Facebook users to horrible spellers (“If you put an ‘A’ in ‘definitely,’ then you’re definitely an A-hole”). 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth, released earlier this month, features 25 new comics as well as virtually every comic Inman has written and drawn since The Oatmeal site launched in the spring of 2009. During a break from his recently launched book tour, Chicagoist mixed it up with The Oatmeal and chatted about topics ranging from brain-farming to his unusual moniker. more ›

Last November, Challengers Comics opened Rogues Gallery, an art gallery just for comics. Each installation highlights the work and illustrations of one comic book artist. This weekend, the gallery is unveiling a new show, The Sixth Gun, a supernatural western that references the Civil War. Writer Cullen Bunn and artist Brian Hurtt will be this weekend’s opening, signing and discussion. Challengers is also selling collection of the first series issues of The Sixth Gun. more ›

News broke yesterday that "Brenda Starr," the comic strip about a plucky, resourceful, empowered and impossibly glamorous reporter, would run its last strip on Jan. 3. As Tribune media columnist Phil Rosenthal noted, Brenda Starr, like Little Orphan Annie six months ago, would go the way of the teletype. more ›

Print is dead. Blah blah blah. The Quimby’s blog says it best: “We’re tired of all the END OF PAPER, the END OF PUBLISHING AS WE KNOW IT stories.” Quimby’s has been open for almost 20 years and has heard about the death of print the whole time. So they’re teaming up with Atomic Books in Baltimore, Xerography Debt and Zine World to do something about it. more ›

August 19-21, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 North River Rd. (Rosemont), tickets $25-50 via the Wizard World site more ›

Wow, they really got the third installment of the Iron Man franchise out quickly! Wonder if it too will feature Captain America's shield and Thor's hammer? More Black Widow, please? more ›

Last Sunday McCormick Place wrapped up hosting C2E2, the three-day expo dedicated to comics, entertainment and other such variants of pop culture. We took to the show floor Saturday to snoop around the booths and sit in on a couple of interesting panels. But most of all, we wanted to gawk at the sights littered throughout. It surely did not disappoint. Thousands showed up to the event to discuss, debate, buy and look at all things comic, and McCormick Place brought a melting pot of fantasy to life. more ›

We're a little over two weeks away from the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2 for short) and it's a bit surprising how quick it snuck up on us. This isn't to say that we aren't excited for the massive three day event - we are - it just managed to sneak under our radar. The convention, which covers the latest and greatest in comics, movies, television, toys, anime, manga and video games, will run April 16 to April 18 at the McCormick Place and will be jam packed with panels, film screenings, exhibits, signings and just about everything else to make us self-professed geeks buckle at the knees. more ›

Lollapalooza wasn't the only big event going on this weekend. It was also the annual Chicago Comic-Con. And judging by these pictures, it was an incredible, surreal time for all involved. A miniature Darth Vader? Check. Billy Dee Williams signing a bottle of Colt 45? Check. More comic costumes than you could ever dream of? Check. And there's plenty more where these came from. more ›

WARNING: Spoiler alert! If you haven't seen Watchmen yet, we discuss plot points after the jump, so you may want to hold off reading any further! 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 ›

Conventions
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Scott Meherg, of Des Plaines, has been indicted on two counts of forgery and two counts of theft for using a forged check to buy a rare 1963 Spider-Man comic book for $980 from Graham Crackers Comics in Naperville. It was the second-ever issue in the original series of the Marvel comic. Meherg allegedly used a forged LaSalle Bank check to purchase the comic in December 2007; he faces up to five years in prison if convicted. Also? The Trib uses Wikipedia as a source. more ›

Christopher Nolan's second episode in the relaunch of the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight, takes a daring turn towards embracing a darker, bleaker vision of the masked vigilante and his increasingly odd rogues gallery of adversaries. Batman Begins did a good job of saving the Bruce Wayne/Batman character from the travesties that Joel Schumacher rained down upon our hero, excised the remaining camp from previous cinematic versions, and rebuilt Batman to more accurately reflect the darker tone of the original comics. more ›

Chicago has its fair share of witty literates, all vying to impress you, Dear Reader, with an outpouring of wit, candor, and originality. What with all the 'zines, blogs, and hipster rags about, the mountain of potential reading material is astounding. more ›

The former Highwater Books was one of the first publishing companies that made us pay attention to comics and graphic novels. After a financial failure, Randy Cheng, a former employee, started Bodega Distribution to continue Highwater's mission. Recently, Randy sent us a sampling of Bodega's wares, and we feel the torch is being carried well. more ›

If comics are an addiction, Tom Seymour is our dealer. The manager of the Lincoln Park location of Graham Cracker Comics combines a passion for all things geek with an encyclopedic knowledge that manages never to come off as elitist. Now you can catch the best of Tom on his OnNetworks internet show, “Bif! Bam! Pow! Wow!.” The quirky title is the only thing forced about the show. Each episode features Tom’s rants and raves... 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 ›

Have you noticed the photos and merchandise featuring a green metal soldier throughout the city? At your local 7-Eleven there are Slurpee cups featuring the same soldier carrying a flag, there is a strange red-orange new flavor of Mountain Dew called Game Fuel, there is a commercial with a elderly man talking about the great battle where "Master Chief" saved his life, and there's another where "Master Chief" seemingly comes alive in the middle of a massive diorama. There are books, comics, web "machinima," toys, and even an article in Time Magazine. This is Halo. more ›

The “Chicago theater season” is as anachronistic as our Columbia House Record Club membership. August was simply a lull before the crush of Fall openings coming to major institutions and their well-funded houses, who'll receive sufficient ink and column inches in the daily and weekly papers. We’re turning an eye to those less heralded venues doubling as rental space, educational resource, and meeting locale. None of these theaters are named after deep-pocketed donors, but that... more ›

Well, it is shaping up to be quite the warm weekend. Any of our lovely readers want to invite us to some type of pool party? We'll bring waterwings shaped like Mayor Daley's face. Someone should really make those. In the event we receive no invitations, we've lined up some other activities certain to help you, and us, take advantage of another weekend. As we mentioned yesterday, Calsfest 2007 is taking place at Cal's Liquors,... more ›

Like many school-age children, Chicagoist was definitely one to doodle in our notes. We filled many a sketchbook, inviting our friends to even add their own stuff, which we have to remember to check up on, in case any of those drawrings are eBay-able these days. We even kept random notebooks just because we liked particular sketches, especially at the expense of first-period Econ. As years passed, our illustrative skillz fell by the wayside, which explains why fellow female Sarah Becan is so, so much better than we. more ›

Now that Spidey 3 and Transformers have opened and iPhone mania is starting to subside, it’s time to find a new place to direct all that geek-out energy. Enter Chicago Tap Theatre’s latest storybook show, The Hourglass in the Stop-Time Chronicles, a CTT collaboration with comic-book artist Andrew Pepoy. Fans of the genre don’t need to be reminded that local boy and Loyola grad Pepoy has inked Spiderman, Superman, Batman, and The Simpsons comix, among... more ›