For you comic book lovers torn between Amazon’s upcoming Kindle Fire and the newly announced Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet — with all its reported Marvel comics goodness – here’s a bit of news to help fuel your debate. Or, perhaps, solve it.

ComiXology has officially announced their app, which features an array of thousands of comics from several publishers, will be included as a built-in with Amazon’s device and will ship with it at launch.

“Launching with a $199 price point makes Amazon’s Kindle Fire a great device for making comics accessible to the masses and the vibrant 7” screen is perfect for our Guided View™ reading system,” said CTO and co-Founder John Roberts.

This is good news for anyone who was worried the Nook Tablet might have the advantage over the Kindle Fire in the comic book reader competition. ComiXology has so many great comics it doesn’t seem like those who ordered a Kindle Fire, and wanted to use it to read comics, have any reason to be jealous of their Nook-using pals.

The Amazon Kindle Fire is available for pre-order now. Although, if you want one any time soon you better hurry as demand has been pretty big.

Check out the full press release from ComiXology after the break.

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It was bound to happen sooner or later as the comics industry needs to do something to shake things up. What is this something? Read on.

This week DC Comics announced it will release Justice League Issue 1 digitally on Aug. 31. This will kick-start an initiative in which the company will renumber its entire line of superhero comics from No. 1 and launch them day-and-date with their print counterparts. Yep, you read that right.

Justice League marks the first collaboration between DC Entertainment chief creative officer Geoff Johns and DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee and will reportedly tell an origin story for the superhero team. DC Comics says it is the first major American comics publisher to release all of its superhero titles digitally the same day as the print version.

So what does that mean for you? Well, it means you will be able to either buy your comics the old fashioned way in print or, if you’re so inclined, download them to your iPad or other digital reader and enjoy them. This marks a significant change from the previous method where you usually had to wait quite some time for a digital version of a comic to be available. Now, you won’t.

It remains to be seen if this will prove a successful move by DC and if it is, if other comic publishers will follow. If they do, it would seem that at least one group is going to suffer the most if this shift continues: comic book store owners. We’ll be following this as it develops.

Even though many people prefer to read comics printed on paper that hasn’t stopped Marvel from having an iPad Application on which fans can read many of their favorite comics. This week some new comics come to that device for your reading pleasure.

Some of the ones we’re most interested include Ender’s Game: War of Gifts, Loki #3, X-Men: Messiah Complex #1-13 and the free comic New Mutants #1. You can find the Marvel Comics App either at the company’s website or directly at iTunes. Check out the list (and some cool cover art) below.

Digital Comics On-Sale:

AVENGERS VS. PET AVENGERS #3

BLACK WIDOW #7

ORSON SCOTT CARD’S ENDER’S GAME: WAR OF GIFTS

(Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game: War of Gifts Special #1, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game: Mazer in Prison #1, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game: Recruiting Valentine #1, and Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game: The League War #1)

IRON MAN: RAPTURE #3

LOKI #3

MARVEL 1602: NEW WORLD

(Marvel 1602: New World #1-5)

NEW MUTANTS VOL. 1: RETURN OF LEGION

(New Mutants #1-5)

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This weekly round-up has become somewhat of an ongoing series, because, well frankly because Marvel keeps releasing so many great free comics, I can barely read them all. So if free is a cost you can endure, and if you have an iPhone or iPad, let’s take a look at what’s free in the Marvel store this week, shall we?

Deadpool #1 (2008): “ONE OF US,” Part 1.

The Merc with a Mouth is back, even deadlier and more deranged than before! The planet has been invaded by Skrulls, everything’s gone topsy-turvy, but in Deadpool’s world, that just means it’s Monday! Crazy times call for crazy men, but c’mon, this guy’s insane. Like it or not, Deadpool may be the only person on the planet who can save us, but who’s to say he wants to? Be here for the explosive debut of the new ongoing series by writer, Daniel Way (Wolverine: Origins, Ghost Rider, Bullseye: Greatest Hits) and fan-favorite artist Paco Medina (New Warriors, New X-Men). Deadpool: His madness is his method! You won’t want to miss it.

The Invincible Iron Man #83 (1996).

Iron Man faces off against one of his most lethal enemies, the armored evil-doer known as The Titanium Man!
Written by: John J. Miller
Penciled by: Jorge Lucas
Inked by: Jorge Lucas
Cover by: Adi Granov

Ultimate Spider-Man #14 (2007): “DOUBLE TROUBLE,” Part 1.

He’s been in a coma for months thanks to the accident that gave birth to the Green Goblin. BUt now, possessing monstrous mechanical arms and plenty of attitude, Dr. Otto Octavius lives! You saw a sketch of him in Wizard, now get ready for the real deal! Plus: The first appearance of another major character! Written by Brian Michael Bendis, penciled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert and the cover by Mark Bagley.

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For aspiring artists and writers who can’t or won’t break into the mainstream comic industry, the web allows indie comic creators to publish on a shoe-string. In room 4 at San Diego Comic-Con, the ‘Action Webcomics’ panel, delved into the world of web comic creation.

The creative team behind Blueshift (www.blueshiftworld.com) talked in-depth about how to collaborate remotely with colorists, writers, editors, and some critical tips for those who aspire to launch their comic digitally. John Van Fleet (Marvel, DC), Dave DeVries (Marvel, DC) and Alex Jiminez (Capcom, Seed Studio) offered up valuable advice based on their hard-won experience creating a direct-to-web franchise.

From putting together a far-flung creative team and keeping them connected using Skype and a robust FTP site, to finding a friend who can help you build your web site, the Blueshift panel really talked the nuts and bolts of their operation as well a some key things to pay attention to.

For instance, even though you may be tempted to produce your comic at web resolution, doing so will preclude you from ever printing your franchise should it become popular enough to warrant such an expense. So the prudent web comic creator should always produce at print resolutions (300dpi) and in CMYK color mode to facilitate quality printing.

Beyond some of the technical points, the panel also touched on the importance of starting with a quality script, generating interesting and unique characters who are sure to be memorable, and the importance of turning points of various types (emotional, action, dialogue and plot).

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So, it begins. The powers that be in control of San Diego Comic-Con have announced the Thursday schedule. We were going to wait and put all of these schedules together but Thursday is such a full day you might need more time to digest it.

Some of the highlights we are looking forward to include the Tron Legacy panel, a City of Heroes panel, Summit Entertainment’s RED panel, several USA show panels including Burn Notice and White Collar, Caprica, Battlestar and Beyond, the Mondo Marvel panel, the EW Visionaries panel with J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon and a panel about The Expendables. There’s also a ton of other stuff with conflicting times that’s sure to drive any fans of movies, tv, comics, games and geek crazy trying to work it all out.

Be sure to check back at The Flickcast for all of our coming Comic-Con coverage. We will be there in force to bring you all the sights, sounds, events, news and smells from Sand Diego. Now to go get in line at Hall H for the J.J. Abrams/Joss Whedon panel.

See you in San Diego! Click through for the complete Thursday schedule as of today.

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With several comic book publishers, including Marvel, already heavily invested in the digital comics space, it seems DC has now decided to get into the world of digital publishing as well. Today the company and its parent Warner Bros. announced it would partner with digital comics platform comiXology, and in a separate deal PlayStation Network, to begin offering comics in digital form to consumers.

In addition, the company will offer a free an application to read comics on iPhone, iPod and iPad devices. This application will launch today and be available in Apple’s iTunes Store.

Some of the comics that will be available digitally include classic DC, Vertigo and Wildstorm titles such as Batman: Hush, Green Lantern: Rebirth, Fables: Legends and Exiles, Planetary: Legends, Exiles: All Over the World and more. In addition, The Justice League: Generation Lost mini-series will be available via both platforms day and date with each issue’s printed release.

Pricing for the digital titles will be tiered from $.99 to $2.99 an issue. Check out the full press release for the announcement after the jump.

So, now that DC has entered the digital space along with Marvel and other publishers, what will this mean for comics retailers? Will we soon see the end of comic book stores?

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In this economy, it’s tough to beat free. Were you aware that Marvel releases a batch of new free comics every week via their popular iPad app? Did I mention that the app is free too? It doesn’t get much better than free comics, folks.

What titles did Marvel make available this week? I’m glad you asked. Let’s check out what sort of comic-goodness we can score for free, shall we?

Runaways (2003) #1: Six couples meet up every year for a party and each year each couple brings their child. This year, the children decide to find out what is so special about this annual party, only to find the parents are committing murder!

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #20: The title of this issue is simply “I, Lucifer!” ’nuff said! Also featuring: The untold story of how Professor X lost the use of his legs!

Fantastic Four (1997) #547: The Wizard has come all the way to Saturn’s moon, Titan, to get revenge on his greatest enemy, but Reed Richards is more concerned with the message encoded in a strange artifact from 700 light years away.

X-Men (2004) #182: When his people need him the most, he shall return! Lord Apocalypse is here to lead mutant-kind into the future of the earth and only the strongest can survive! Plus, just wait until you see his new Horsemen! Even we were surprised!

So what’re you waiting for? Go get ‘em! ’nuff said!

The Iron Man 2 hype machine is in full effect leading up to Friday’s release of this summer’s most anticipated comic book property to hit the big screen in 2010. This week alone, we’ve brought you news of the ‘Iron Man Central’ app hitting iTunes, as well as some of the ‘Iron Man 2′ easter eggs to keep an eye for while you’re watching the flick, and now Marvel Digital has released 4 new free digital comics for their free Marvel Comics App available in the iTunes App Store.

While the app is free to download, comics generally cost around $1.99/each, with Marvel releasing a batch of new freebies each week. This week, with all eyes on Iron Man 2, the free choices revolve around this popular franchise.

Two issues go into the way-back machine, all the way to 1968 for some classic silver-age Iron Man action with issues #225 and #280. The third issue is a bit more up-to-date with The Invincible Iron Man #1 which details some of the events of the first flick. And finally the fourth free issue from Marvel Digital this week, Black Widow Saga #1, gives readers an insight to this mysterious character from the second film.

So what are you waiting for? Fire up your iPhone or iPad and let’s get primed for all things Tony Stark! After the jump, take a closer look at these free issues. Free is good, right?

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With the Kick-Ass movie about to hit theaters Marvel is doing another cool thing to tie in with the film’s release. Starting today, they are offering the complete Kick-Ass limited comic series in single issue format for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The comics can be downloaded via the Comixology or Iverse applications for Apple devices and PSP users can download directly to their device.

“I have an ancient cell phone given to me by a relative that’s so old it can’t take pictures so this tech is so far away from me it might as well be science fiction,” said Kick-Ass writer and co-creator Mark Millar. “But I read about it on Comic Book Resources and Marvel.com– the guys seemed excited so consider me excited by osmosis. More readers and new readers is always a good thing.”

John Romita Jr, artist and co-creator of Kick-Ass, said, “I’m excited about these advances in technology that I have been hearing about for, what seems like ten years. Now it has arrived, and all I can think of is that it advances the state of ‘comic books’ in that it will direct people to the source material. I believe this will cement the tangible material, the comics themselves, into the hands and minds of future ‘young’ generations! It always comes down to the quality of writing and the sequential art. Holding a comic and turning the page for more will forever be a novelty, even with advanced technology as an option.”

So there you have it right from the creators. This is a new way to discover the world of Kick-Ass and hopefully enhance your appreciation for the comic and what the filmmakers were able to accomplish when bringing the comic to the big screen.

Kick-Ass the movie opens everywhere tomorrow.

This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt are again joined by video game guru John Carle to discuss all manner of new and interesting topics. Some of these include Jason West and Vince Zampella joining EA Games, Conan heading to TBS, the oddness of Viva Pinata, the usefulness of the website Game Crush, the fun to be had at the website Girl Gamer, the awesomeness of Michael Ironside, instant Netflix on the Wii, Ryan Reynolds in Paper Man and the future of digital comics on the iPad and other devices.

Plus, the guys made some picks this week, as usual, including John’s pick of Kick-Ass, Matt’s pick of the movie Defendor and Chris’ pick of the new HBO series Treme.

Also, they announced the first winner of The Flickcast Mailbag contest and a new prize for this week’s question: a copy of Defendor on DVD. Remember, to win just send a question on pretty much any topic to mailbag [at] the flickcast dot com and if we answer your question on the show next week, you win. What could be easier than that?

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

If you’re a fan of Eric Powell’s awesome comic book series The Goon but often find yourself having trouble getting to the comic store to pick up the recent issues, then you’re in luck because this post is for you. According to Dark Horse Comics, publishers of The Goon, several issues of the comic including the graphic novel Chinatown, the Mystery of Mr. Wicker and The Goon #7 are going digital and will be available on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Intrigued? Thought so. Check out all the sccop from the official Dark Horse press release.

THE GOON ARRIVES ON THE iPHONE THIS WEEK AND IS BACK IN PRINT WITH THE ALL-NEW BUZZARD MINISERIES THIS SUMMER

Fans and critics alike rejoiced in 2008, when creator Eric Powell took his redneck zombie noir, The Goon, monthly for an entire calendar year. Following the release of the landmark graphic novel Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker, Powell laid out his most complex story line to date, spanning twelve issues. In 2009, the creator celebrated the tenth anniversary of the title, releasing a special anniversary issue to coincide with a burlesque anniversary party in his honor in Nashville, followed by a special all-silent issue in November. While both were strong standalone issues, the significantly lighter release schedule left fans wondering what’s next for the madcap mercenary.

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