Disney to Buy Marvel for $4B

Company leaks details of 'Death of Spider-Man' ending

(NEWSER) - Spider-Man is going to die tomorrow, or at least a Spider-Man will. For those who haven’t been following comics lately, here’s the skinny: The Spider-Man that’s been around since 1962 is fine. The Peter Parker who’s biting the dust is “Ultimate Spider-Man,” an alternate version of the character introduced 11 years ago in the hopes of appealing to new fans. More»

Latest 'Twilight' entry enjoys 3rd-biggest weekend ever

(NEWSER) - In the third-largest weekend debut ever, The Twilight Saga: New Moon rang up $140.7 million, riding records for a midnight opening and a single day to totals trailing only The Dark Knight and Spider-Man. Audiences were four-fifths female, with the remaining 20% mostly teen boys, USA Today reports. The Blind Side outperformed expectations, doing $34.5 million. Precious fell out of the top five but remained in the top 10, taking in $11 million. The top five: More»

(NEWSER) - Comics fans are just a little miffed by Marvel’s $4 billion acquisition by Disney: “SOOOO NOT HAPPY! Spider-man should not be co-mingling with Goofy,” reads one blog post. The problem, Linda Holmes writes for NPR, is “one of perception: Put simply, Marvel has a cool factor and Disney doesn't.” Marvel devotees don’t “see themselves as close cousins of people who love Donald Duck just because there's drawing involved.” More»

'You have legs, you can become a warrior,' says fan at SD convention

(NEWSER) - It’s no accident that some of Comic-Con's most popular heroes are X-Men’s wheelchair-bound professor and Daredevil’s blind avenger. Many of the San Diego convention’s 125,000 guests say they relate to the struggles of their favorite superheroes, the Los Angeles Times reports. “You feel like you can be one of them,” said one 62-year-old. “You have legs, and you can become a warrior.” More»

Big screen adaptations bring fame to writers

(NEWSER) - Comic books—trendy? All of a sudden they are, the Los Angeles Times reports. “The geeks have won,” says Ed Brubaker, one of the many comic-book creators who now finds himself a celebrity. Brubaker’s Angel of Death premieres online today as a live-action series, but he’s not the only one signing autographs—the popularity of films like The Dark Knight pushed comics into the mainstream. More»