Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

X-Statix was a book ahead of its time, in fact, its probably book that can’t exist in any time, and that’s what makes it so good.  First published in 2001 during the Grant Morrison New X-Men era, the story of this group began in X-Force #116. Marvel at this time was willing to take risks and chances.

Their movies were making money, and they wanted edgy comics that matched. Thus, X-Force was turned from a military group mutant team to a group of mutants that star on a reality show, and only save people if it will help their fame.

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Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

“This is not how the world ends.” – S.H.I.E.L.D #1

When most people think of S.H.I.E.L.D., they think of the secret spy organization that is lead by the one-eyed Nick Fury. This book is about the secret and ancient history behind the founding of that organization. Before you run away, spouting some nonsense saying that you don’t want to read a continuity heavy Marvel Universe story, let me assure you. There are little to no references to the Marvel Universe in this book.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is a historical mystery about a secret organization that we never knew existed starring figures from our past. Leonardo DaVinci? Check. Issac Newton? He’s here too. This book is a who’s who of scientific history.

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People who complain that DC Comics reboot their universe too many times needs to take a look at Marvel Comics Ultimate Universe line.

Founded in 2000 with the debut of Ultimate Spider-Man, the Ultimate universe was always intended as a continuity free entry point into the Marvel Universe. Characters and origins were updated to feel as if they were created in the 2000′s, and many of the movie properties of Marvel took several ideas and storylines from the Ultimate Marvel universe. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, the Ultimate Universe became confusing and has been rebooted not once, but twice in ten years! Let me say that again, twice in ten years. Even with all the odds stacked against it, Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 turns out to be a decent issue.

Peter Parker, the Spider-Man, is dead. Wolverine, Cyclops, Professor X, and Magneto are also in the ground. This ain’t your papa’s Marvel Universe. The issue begins with a scene that could have been ripped out of an X-Men movie. Karen Grant a.k.a. Jean Grey, who has changed her name for safety reasons, visits the parents of a little girl who has just discovered she is a mutant. Karen discusses options with the mother while the father of the little girl is upstairs with her.

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Happy 5th of July to all you comic book lovers out there. This week sees the release of a bunch of new comics from our friends at Marvel.

Of the ones coming out, we’re most interested in reading Fear Itself #4, Captain America & Thor: Avengers #1, X-Men #14, Vengeance #1 and Red Skull #1.

As with most weeks, new comics out on Wednesday, so hit your nearest comic book store for best selection as many people may thing today is new comic book day this week. However, with the 4th of July holiday, it may be a good idea to wait until Thursday this week, just in case.

Either way, if you don’t know where your nearest comic store is, usse this handy guide to find one.

Comics On-Sale:

15-LOVE #2
ASTONISHING THOR #5
AVENGERS, THOR & CAPTAIN AMERICA: OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #15
CAPTAIN AMERICA & THOR!: AVENGERS #1
CARS 2 #2
DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER – THE BATTLE OF TULL #2
FEAR ITSELF #3 2ND PRINTING VARIANT (FI)
FEAR ITSELF #4 (FI)

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Going back to the early days of comics, heroes have been created to stand for something. Peace, justice and the American way has been a strong theme since this trend began and never seemed to falter.

As time as passed, the simple blind patriotism has faded and led to more complex characters that have evolved with the times. Today, on the anniversary of America’s independence, we take a look back at some heroes and even some villains who have proudly worn the red, white and blue.

While there are many we don’t have the chance to look at below such as the Flag, Liberty Bell, the Shield or even the Spirit of 76, we look at all those heroes and what they stood for, the men and women who helped give us the freedom to be able to live in a land where these characters actually exist.

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Having read and enjoyed author Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Saga for many years, I have to admit I was pretty excited to learn it was being made into a comic from Marvel. Now my level of excitement has risen even higher with the announcement that the comic based on the second book of the series, Magician: Master, will make its debut exclusively on the Marvel Comics app.

Harvey Award-winning writer Bryan J. Glass, along with breakout artists Tim Seeley and Hugo Petrus, have adapted the story for comics. In case you’re not familiar with it, here’s bit about the comic from Marvel’s official release:

As the fate of Midkemia hangs in the balance. Now three distant friends—a magician, a warrior and a prince—must reunite for the greatest battle of their lives and possibly make the ultimate sacrifice. Can Pug, Tomas and Arutha come together to save Crydee one more time? Or will the mighty kingdom fall?

“Magician: Master is the first full-length series from Marvel to be published on the Marvel Comics app before arriving in stores,” explained David Gabriel, Senior Vice-President of Sales. “Given both Raymond E. Feist’s worldwide popularity and success of Magician: Apprentice and Riftwar, Magician: Master seemed a natural choice for our first app-exclusive series.”

Feist said, “I am both pleased and excited at having Magician: Master selected to be the first full digital exclusive series chosen by Marvel to be available on the Marvel Comics app worldwide. The creative talent involved makes me proud to see what other creative forces can do with my imaginings.”

This five part limited series will be released weekly on the Marvel Comics app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch beginning today. Check out some preview pages after the break.

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As expected, Activision made a strong showing at this year’s E3. Of course, they headlined with their premiere franchise Call of Duty with Modern Warfare 3. But they didn’t forget about the rest of their games.

One of the games right now being most closely followed by us is Spider-Man: Edge of Time.  The followup from Beenox from Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Edge of Time tells a story about time being ravaged by the untimely death of the modern day Peter Parker and the ripples it sends in to the future.

In the latest trailer and screen shots below, one of the game’s first major villains is revealed with Anti-Venom. Anyone reading the current Amazing Spider-Man arc will be familiar with Anti-Venom who fancies himself as a cure on society’s cancers. Much like Eddie Brock’s former lethal protector mentality as Venom, Eddie’s personal delusions get in the way of his motives and inevitably put Spider-Man in the sites as one of his targets.

How this will play out in the game remains to be seen but it is refreshing to see Beenox putting newer characters in to their game instead of just rehashing the most famous of Spider-Man’s rouges over and over again.

Take a peek below at Spider-Man: Edge of Time featuring Anti-Venom, Spider-Man 2099 and of course everyone’s favorite modern day Spidey. Stick to The Flickcast for more on Spider-Man: Edge of Time as it becomes available.

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Unfortunately, I’ve never been much of a fan of Marvel’s Ghost Rider. Even if I had tried to give the character a chance, which I did, any interest I had in it was effectively destroyed by Nicholas Cage’s portrayal of him in the Ghost Rider movie.

Although, as bad as Cage is, we can’t lay all the blame at his feet. The film’s writing and direction, both curtesy of Mark Steven Johnson (who also did Elektra and Daredevil, which should tell you something) are also to blame.

Given all that, it makes sense that Marvel is trying to reboot the character, at least in comics, with the upcoming release of Ghost Rider 0.1. According to Marvel, this comic will be “a bold new beginning for Ghost Rider amidst the chaos of Fear Itself.”

But wait, there’s more: “From the newly exclusive creative team of writer Rob Williams and artist Matthew Clark, Johnny Blaze has finally found a way to defeat the demon within and undo his pact for power. But can he allow himself to ‘Give Up The Ghost’? Find out in this special POINT ONE issue as Vengeance rides in a new direction and scorches the Marvel Universe like never before.”

Yes, I’m still a bit skeptical. But looking at these new images and reading a bit about the story of this comic, I gotta say I’m inclined to give this character, and this book, a second chance. See, Nicholas Cage can’t destroy everything.

Check out the preview images after the jump. The brand new Ghost Rider 0.1 hits comic store shelves on June 8th.

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This past weekend at WonderCon, Activision and Beenox gave the world its first look at their latest Spider-Man title, Spider-Man: Edge of Time. As we discussed last week, Spider-Man: Edge of Time is a concurrent storyline between two versions of Spider-Man, Amazing in the present and 2099 in the future.

Visually, there are a lot of similarities that can be seen in the trailer between Spider-Man: Edge of Time and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. It looks like even gameplay will be similar as well, as can be seen from the return of Spider-Man 2099′s freefall combat section shown in the trailer.

It has been revealed that two of the voice actors from Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions will be returning to Edge of Time as well, but strangely neither will be reprising their previous role. Sadly, Neil Patrick Harris will not be returning to the role of Amazing Spider-Man as it will be voiced by Josh Keaton who played Peter Parker in the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon and the Ultimate Spider-Man in Shattered Dimensions.

Spider-Man 2099 will be voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes who voiced Spider-Man in the 1990′s animated series and Spider-Man Noir in last year’s game.

Take a look at the screens and trailer after the jump and be sure to check back right here for more on Spider-Man: Edge of Time.

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Writer Peter David must have found something very special within himself when he created Spider-Man 2099 nearly twenty years ago. Of all of the characters that came to be from the 2099 universe, Spider-Man 2099 is the one who keeps coming back.

Whether it was in Marvel’s “Time Stream” crossover or having a place on the Exiles or his most recent appearance in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Miguel O’Hara has earned his place as a true Spider-Man (unlike the much despised Ben Reily or Kaine).

Now, Spider-Man 2099 will be a part of Activision and Beenox’s latest adaptation of Spider-Man with the newly announced Spider-Man: Edge of Time.

Taking a cue from games like Singularity, Spider-Man: Edge of Time plays on the concept of actions in the past affecting the future as both the current day Spider-Man and the Spider-Man of 2099 both take actions to prevent a premature death of this generation’s Peter Parker which leads to a future that should never come to pass.

Here’s all the info you need to know from the official press release:

“The first Spider-Man entry by Beenox, Spider-Man™: Shattered Dimensions was touted as one of the wall-crawler’s best Spider-Man games to date from both critics and fans,” said Vicharin Vadakan, Director, Global Brand Management. “Beenox is once again taking a fresh and different approach to bring a fast-paced and high-octane adventure and unexpected story to life in Spider-Man: Edge of Time.”

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As the release of Kenneth Branagh’s Thor draws near we can expect the usual deluge of marketing materials to bombard us and try to influence us to see the movie. Not that we really need help in that department.

We’re gonna see it. Duh.

Still, seeing more of the movie before it comes out is cool. Fortunately, Paramount keeps releasing more videos. Case in point is this latest featuring Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and a taser.

Plus, it helps give us more insight into the story and, in particular, the sequence where Thor crashes to earth and is discovered by Portman and pals. And yes, it is pretty cool.

So, to experience this new video, be sure to click through to watch it.

Thor hits theaters on may 6th. As if you didn’t already know that.

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Movies, TV shows, comics, everything is better with a trailer to promote it. So, with that in mind, we bring you a trailer for Marvel’s upcoming comic book series Fear Itself, written by Matt Fraction with art by Stuart Immonen.

Make no mistake, folks, this looks pretty cool. Plus, it just might give you some insight into upcoming Marvel movies and other projects. Pay close attention.

Before the video, here’s the official word from marvel:

Iron Breaks. Soldiers Fall. Gods Die.

Get your first look at the official trailer to FEAR ITSELF #1 right here! Comic luminaries Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen deliver the most anticipated event of 2011, as Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Iron Man and the rest of Earth’s mightiest heroes find themselves embroiled in a war against the God of Fear…and at the center of a secret that will rock the Marvel Universe.

Check out the trailer after the break. Fear Itself hits comic book store shelves on April 6th.

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