Comics Legend Stan Lee Creates Gay Superhero

Silver Scorpion the brainchild of disabled US, Syrian kids

(NEWSER) - It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... well, this time it's something a bit different: The latest comic-book hero will be a wheelchair-bound Muslim boy who lost his legs in a landmine accident, reports the AP. The Silver Scorpion began to take shape when a US philanthropist, inspired by President Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, gathered a group of disabled American and Syrian kids to talk storylines. More»

'Hardcore fan' pays record-smashing price for Action Comics #1

(NEWSER) - Superman's first appearance has sold for a price that would have allowed his creators Seigel & Shuster to retire on the spot. A mint-condition copy of Action Comics No. 1 from 1938 went for $1.5 million on Internet auction site Comics Connect. The sale broke the record for the most expensive comic book in history for the third time this year. 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»

(AP) - The Walt Disney Co. says it is acquiring Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the Disney family. Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own, Disney reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Bam! Biff! Pow! President Obama might be struggling over health care reform, but he's going gangbusters in comic books, reports the New York Daily News. No longer content to play second fiddle to Spidey, the comic version of Barack Obama is now grabbing top billing in a new series of indie comic book editions. Devil's Due Publishing has made him a post-alien invasion star in Drafted and the hero of a new series, Barack the Barbarian. More»