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Erotic Comics Book Puts The ‘Lust’ In ‘Illustration’

As longtime comic book heads, we’ve always had a place in our heart for a well-rendered female form, whether She-Hulk, Jean Grey, or Witchblade (big up to our dude Mike Choi!). Of course, mainstream comic art has its limits—limits that have long been crossed in erotic art from the Kama Sutra to R. Crumb and Playboy’s Little Annie Fanny. And now those transgressions have been lovingly cataloged by Tim Pilcher, whose Erotic Comics: A Graphic History from Tijuana Bibles to Underground Comix comes out this month.

More than just a visual history, the book reads like a labor of love; images from pre-Depression nudie comics to modern-day Mexican sensacionales are presented along with insightful essays that make the book perfectly suitable for a coffee-table centerpiece (albeit an intesnsely NSFW one). After the jump, check out some relatively tame images from inside the book.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Indian Comics Are Edutainment

With every comic this side of Bazooka Joe receiving the movie treatment this summer, we’re almost (almost) coming down with a case of comic book fatigue here at the Complex offices. (creating our Second Annual Comic Special was no easy feat, folks).

Always on the lookout for new shit in the ink and paper world, we were stoked to come across fantasy author Jeff VanderMeer’s collection of ’70s comics from India. The Hugo Award-winning author turns 40 next week and is revisiting his comic collection (which is something we can relate to—except we do it when we turn 24, 25, 26 and most days in between). It turns out there was (and still is) a whole genre of comics depicting Indian historical and religious figures. Peep more of Jeff’s collection after the jump.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Wolverine Leads The X-Men Back Into Animation

Back in the mid-’90s, the Fox’s original X-Men cartoon dominated Saturday mornings. Now, after three blockbuster live action movies and an animated series about the mutants as teenagers (X-Men: Evolution), it looks like the entire franchise is shifting its focus towards Wolverine. The X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie comes out next May, the first issue of the Old Man Logan comic just dropped, and now Nickelodeon is preparing their new series Wolverine And The X-Men.

While the show won’t debut until next Spring, Marvel announced that they will be debuting the pilot at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. Watch two new trailers for the series below.

Popularity: 30% [?]

‘Punisher: War Zone’ Prepares For Battle

After the big debuts of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, Marvel is on a bit of a roll at the box office these days. But it looks like their third 2008 release, Punisher: War Zone, could be risky.

The 2004 Punisher film starring Thomas Jane, which was panned by critics and comic fans alike, was only a moderate success after being released on DVD. Nonetheless, they’ve recruited a new actor, Rome’s Ray Stevenson, to play the badass vigilante in the new flick that’s being released in December. It’s too soon to tell whether or not this is a good move, but we’re happy that they decided to cast The Wire’s Dominic West as his mangled enemy Jigsaw. Watch the film’s first trailer below.

Popularity: 44% [?]

The Incredible Hulk Is Less Than Smashing

THE INCREDIBLE HULK SQUASH PREVIOUS ANG LEE HULK FILM TURD!!! Granted, it’s not difficult to improve upon a movie that nearly made Ayo! Scott choke to death on his own vomit (Ayo! fell asleep while watching). What is difficult is taking a one-note superhero and making audiences care about him. Seriously, Ashanti’s windpipe game displays greater range.

There is something compelling about a man living in fear of the beast that lurks within him (just look at how many hits Monstersofcock.com gets daily). The cursed Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) has to run from the military and avoid contact with loved ones for fear he might hurt them. Worst of all, he can’t smash the Brazilian model who lusts after him because his fully excited Hulk unit would explode her (Talk about not being green with penis envy!).

Unfortunately, it’s the “star of the show,” Hulk, who creates a big problem for the movie. Ayo! Scott was at Comic Con in 2007 and heard all about how exciting new technology would transfer Norton’s facial expressions to Hulk’s face, allowing him to emote like a thespian. Other than one (admittedly fresh) transformation scene, Norton is imperceptible. For much of his tour de brute force, CGI Hulk is either pissed off, really pissed off, or really fucking pissed off. On the rare occasion he’s not roaring or grunting, he inexplicably transforms into a super-sized bitch, getting sappy around Banner’s piece Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) and wincing when he bumps his head—even though he’s just shrugged off bullets like they were a mild case of jock itch. Ultimately, the new and improved Hulk didn’t make Ayo! choke on his own vomit, just cough up a little bile. See the trailer and Complex’s own 3-minute reenactment after the jump.

Popularity: 58% [?]

Wolverine Becomes Old Man Logan

What happens to our favorite superheroes when they get old and grey? Some comics, like The Dark Knight Returns and Spider-Man: Reign have addressed this question directly, but most probably don’t want to give away the fate of their hero so easily. Fresh off the Civil War series, writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven are going deeper into X-Men icon Wolverine’s story with the new release Old Man Logan.

The 8 issue story arc is set 50 years in the future, when the villains have taken over the world, and Wolverine is just a dusty old farmer in Sacramento named Logan. The first issue drops next Wednesday (June 11), and Newsarama just leaked a seven page preview. Get a taste of Old Man Logan after the jump.

Popularity: 82% [?]

Hollywood’s Death Note Remake Is On Deck

Oh, Asia. What would we do if we didn’t have your brilliantly creepy source material to pilfer? The latest Japanese horror franchise to get the Hollywood treatment is Death Note. Originally a popular manga series, it was made into two live-action movies (Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name) that became instant Japanese blockbusters upon their releases in 2006.

The story follows a college student who finds a mysterious notebook that somehow kills whoever’s name you write on its pages. Rumors about a Hollywood remake have been swirling since the rights were picked up by Warner, but it seems like its really happening after a recent report surfaced claiming that Vlas and Charley Parlapanides (the writers behind 50 Cent’s upcoming car racing movie Live Bet) are currently working on the screenplay. Watch the trailer for the Japanese movie after the jump to get familiar.

Popularity: 84% [?]

Charles Burns’ Art Gets Collected In Permagel

Whether or not you read Charles Burns‘ critically-acclaimed comic series Black Hole, you might have seen his surreal artwork. He did the cover for Iggy Pop’s 1990 album Brick By Brick and created the classic art for Coke’s short-lived OK! soda, along with a slew of other books and commercial work.

Now, French publisher United Dead Artists has collected some of his best frames for a new book called Permagel. The anthology includes 32 large-format printings of art from Black Hole, Big Baby and the rest of Burns’ work thorugh the years. Right now it’s only available in Europe, but a U.S. printing can’t be far behind. View more frames from the book below.

Popularity: 84% [?]

Moyashimon Wins Major Japanese Comic Prize

This weekend, the winners of the 12th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, were announced in Japan. The awards, which were named after the Astro Boy creator, recognize the best in manga and comics that follow Tezuka’s influential approach. The winner of 2 million yen (about $20,000) and this year’s Manga Grand Prize is artist Masayuki Ishikawa, whose Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture had also been nominated for the top honor in the two previous years.

Part scientific education and part bizarre entertainment, Moyashimon follows a college student who discovers that he can see and communicate with the germs and micro-organisms all around him. The off-beat franchise was first published in manga form in 2004, before it was adapted into a short-lived anime series late last year. Watch a clip of the show (with English subtitles!) after the jump.

Popularity: 85% [?]

Batman And Joker Get The Be@rbrick Treatment

Next month, Japanese designer toymakers Medicom will be releasing these brand spankin’ new Batman and Joker Be@rbricks. Although The Dark Knight is about to hit theaters on July 18th, these new figures are actually a throwback to the 1960s blue-suitted Bat from the light-hearted Adam West TV show. After the jump, see the backs of the new toys, and watch the trailer for the upcoming Lego Batman video game, which is also based off the old school ’60s TV show.

Popularity: 86% [?]