Brubaker, on the Coward Film.

It looks like the film adaptation for the first Criminal arc continues to wind its way through production, and Bad Ass Digest has a video round table with Ed Brubaker and Scott Pilgrim's Bryan Lee O'Malley.  Brubaker talks briefly about "Coward," the Captain America sequel, and his favorite comic-book film adaptation.

What's Next? A Fatale Preview, and More.

The latest stand-alone issue of Fatale is in stores this week, and Paste Magazine has an exclusive five-page preview of issue #13, set in the Wild West.  It's not the only thing on my pull-list, as we also see the long-awaited fifth and final issue of the first mini-series of Ken Garing's spare sci-fi comic Planetoid, for which iFanboy has a preview.

Image Comics has been putting out a lot of interesting creator-owned titles in the past couple years, for a wide range of tastes, and late last month Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson addressed the ComicsPro trade organization about Image's 20th anniversary and "What's Next."

Some of our new books were by today's biggest stars, others were by artists and writers with the talent to become the stars of tomorrow.

Because as proud as we are to be associated with the Ed Brubakers, the Grant Morrisons, the Robert Kirkmans, and the Brian K. Vaughans of the world, and as happy as we are to publish titles like Saga, Happy!, Fatale and The Walking Dead, we are always on the lookout for what's next.

It's a good, healthy attitude to have on both sides of the industry, and I hope our readers can find a couple titles to support, especially creator-owned works that fit the reader's particular interests even if that's outside of some synergistic marketing strategy.

Our readers might be interested to know that one upcoming Image title is from some names that are quite familiar to fans of Ed Brubaker and especially Gotham Central:  Greg Rucka and Michael Lark's Lazarus.  In a move that isn't a million miles from the trailers we've seen from Brubaker and Phillips, the two have produced a four-page short story that won't appear in the first issue.

Bullets: Fatale Preview, Deluxe Sleeper, and Catwoman Collected.

Good stuff this week.

• Fatale #12 Preview.  Both Comicosity and Comic Book Resources have a five-page preview of the latest issue of Fatale.  The stand-alone issue takes us all the way back to the Middle Ages, and it reaches stores this Wednesday, February 13th.
• Sleeper Omnibus Photo.  On Twitter, Ed Brubaker recently posted a grainy image of the upcoming Sleeper Omnibus, writing that DC/Vertigo did a "great job" on the collection.  Fans will be happy to hear that the hardcover's dimensions match the deluxe editions of Criminal.  Featuring plenty of extras, the book collects all of Point Blank and Sleeper, including the Coup D'Etat one-shot and afterward, the former of which had not been collected under the Sleeper banner.  The 720-page hardcover is due in stores on March 6th.
• Catwoman Volume 2 in June.  Finally, CBR has DC Comics' May solicitations, which include an advance solicitation for Catwoman Volume 2: No Easy Way Down.  The trade paperback follows up on the first volume, "Trail of the Catwoman," released early last year.  The two books collect Darwyn Cooke's tale Selina's Big Score, Secret Files #1, and the first 24 issues of Ed Brubaker's run on Catwoman.  This second volume is due out on June 12th.

Brubaker has recently tweeted that the first 18 issues are the high watermark of his run on Catwoman, and those who don't have the issues or the earlier trade collection should put this second volume on their to-do list.

Bullets: New Colorist, New Art from Sean, Etc.

The next issue of Fatale is currently listed with a February 13th release date -- just in time for Valentine's! -- so here are a few brief news items in the meantime.

• AV Club looks at Fatale #11.  The Onion's AV Club takes a closer look at the latest issue, praising the single-issue story for capturing the dread of Lovecraftian horror.  The article ends by highlighting a detail in the art that I missed the first time through:  we could use more thoughtful essays like this one.
• New Colorist for Fatale.  In his Twitter feed, Ed Brubaker relays that Elizabeth Breitweiser will be the new colorist, beginning with Fatale #12.  Replacing Dave Stewart, Breitweiser has already worked with Brubaker on Captain America and Winter Soldier, and he has praised her as a "genius."
• New Artwork from Sean Phillips.  Finally, Sean Phillips' blog was quiet in December, but the artist has been featuring quite a lot of new work lately, including thumbnails, art for an upcoming essay, and  cover art for Fatale #15 and the third trade paperback, "West of Hell." (In contrast with East of Eden?)

Going by that cover, issue #15 returns us to the main narrative.  On Twitter, Ed Brubaker is somewhat ambivalent about the series' status as an ongoing title:  "There's still an end in mind, but I decided to let the story have more space and not specify its length."

We're hopeful that the return of Criminal won't be indefinitely postponed, but we're looking forward to this horror story unfolding at its own pace.

Preview of Fatale #11.

The new year begins with a double dose of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Fatale.  New readers can catch up in a hurry as Wednesday sees the release of the second trade paperback, "The Devil's Business," and the next issue in the noir-horror series.  Fatale #11 is the first of four stand-alone issues, and Comic Book Resources has just posted a five-page preview.

Warm Christmas Wishes from A Criminal Blog.

Brubaker and Phillips' Fatale didn't quite catch up with the original schedule, after all.  The original solictations had a December 19th release date for the 11th issue and the second trade paperback, "The Devil's Business" -- which would have been just in time for Christmas -- but the Image Comics website now lists January 2nd as the sale date.

The new year will begin with the collection of the most recent arc and the first of four stand-alone issues.  We'll link to any previews that we see, as we find them.

Until then, A Criminal Blog wishes everyone a very safe and happy holiday season.

"His Fear Took Its Proper Place:" Previews and News.

The latest issue of Fatale is indeed in stores today, concluding the second arc and putting the title back on schedule.  A five-page preview of issue #10 is available at Comic Book Resources and at Comicosity, where it is grouped with previews for other books released today by Image Comics -- and there's already an early review at Unleash the Fanboy.

(This will be a good week, at least for my reading habits.  Along with Fatale, we have Chew #30 and Planetoid #4.  The dark comedy completes the first half of its planned 60-issue run, and writer John Layman marked the occasion with an interview with CBR.  Meanwhile, the stark sci-fi comic is resuming after a brief delay, creator Ken Garing has confirmed that this five-issue mini-series is only the beginning of a "larger story," and he's provided a striking piece of artwork to mark the new issue.)

Readers should note the publication of the second collection of Ed Brubaker's Winter Soldier title, featuring art by Michael Lark.  Upon his return from Thought Bubble, Sean Phillips has put a few more books in his Amazon store, each including a signature and an original sketch.

On December 12th, Image Comics will publish another round of "Image Firsts" comic books, full first issues for only one dollar. Chew will be one of two titles that will see "Image First" reprints, and -- more importantly -- Fatale will be one of five titles to be newly featured in their line of inexpensive introductions.  I'll sample a few titles I haven't yet tried, and the Fatale issue would be good to buy for friends.

After that, we have the four stand-alone issues, featured in a news story at Image Comics.  Fatale #11 is evidently still planned for December, but the second trade collection, "The Devil's Business," will be in stores on January 2nd.

Fatale has been nominated for Best Crime Comic (or "Mystery" comic) for the 2013 Angoulême International Comics Festival.  The nominees have been announced in French, and we're grateful that Comics Beat has translated the announcement into English.  The festival will be held January 31st to February 3rd.

Finally, Sean Phillips has created the cover art and additional material for another fine entry in the Criterion Collection: eight-time Oscar-winner On the Waterfront (1954), starring Marlon Brando.  This makes the fourth such commission for Phillips, who has created artwork for Blast of Silence (1961), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), and 12 Angry Men (1957).

The Criterion Blu-ray and DVD will both be released on February 19th.