Hercules: The Thracian Wars #1 and Caliber #1 (both 32 pages for only $1) are the first comicbook releases from new publisher Radical Comics, headed up by rock photographer turned producer Barry Levine and featuring dark stories smothered even more in what looks like buckets and buckets of oh-so-serious painted artwork.  Everything is so dark that it's at times hard to follow the story and characters from panel to panel — and the noir-ish scripting does little to alleviate this. Hercules in particular is light on plot but easy enough to figure out; fantasy Western tale Caliber was tougher to follow but more obviously could be very cool if its concept can escape the dark art into the light of day. ...

Dead, She Said #1 (IDW, $3.99) tells the tale of a private eye who continues his case even though he's so dead his guts are spilling out. Full pencils and inks by Berni Wrightson are a big draw on this one, though somehow it fails to live up to the cool factor he established on DC's 1970s horror books. ... Igor Movie Prequel #1 (IDW, $3.99) tells two tales that help set up this fall's animated feature from The Weinstein Co. The art has a clever, CG-assisted look  and the story is fun enough to raise my interest in the film, but the dark colors make the reader spend too much time figuring out what they're looking at rather than just enjoying the story. ... Batman #675 (DC, $2.99) is my favorite single issue of Grant Morrison's run, for the great Bruce Wayne scenes and a particularly cool ending. ...

The Uncanny X-Men #497 (Marvel, $2.99) featured another good script from Ed Brubaker — with the exception of Emma Frost's dialog being far more colloquial than I expect from the former White Queen. Both plots — San Francisco reverting to 1969, and Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler's Russian adventure — were entertaining and progressed enough to be worth the cover price. ... Doktor Sleepless #6 (Avatar, $2.99) is getting more interesting as the larger plot starts to take shape, proving to be one of Warren Ellis' more interesting sci-fi premises. ...

American Splendor Vol. 2 #1 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) tells you more about the life of writer Harvey Pekar, who judging by his recent stories has mellowed out a bit. The lineup of artists is particularly nice — never thought David Lapham would draw a Pekar story — and for some reason I'm really glad this is still published in black and white. ... Young Liars #2 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) is better than the first issue, feeling more like a particularly good issue of Stray Bullets than the first. Colorist Lee Loughridge does an excellent job coloring creator David Lapham's always-cool art. ... If you've read it up till now, you're not going to snub Countdown to Final Crisis #1 (DC, $2.99), which struggles to generate some excitement as it wraps up the weekly series and sets up the board for the next OMG don't-dare-miss-it event, Final Crisis. 

It's that time of year again: Free comics! This is the seventh year for the promotional event, for which comics shops across the country will be giving away this Saturday a whole bunch of free samplers. As always, it coincides with the opening weekend release of a big comicbook movie, in this case "Iron Man." (For some reason, Marvel has a lot more sway in getting the event tied to its movies, rather than say DC's "The Dark Knight.")

This year's sampling includes 10 "gold books" from the top publishers — Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Archie, Virgin, etc. — that every participating store will carry. There also will be more than 30 "silver books" from a wider array of publishers. This year's giveaways also includes a couple of collectible game miniatures, which is the first non-comics item to be officially included in the promotion.

But perhaps the most fun aspect of FCBD is the opportunity for stores everywhere to stage signings and events. The most interesting is at Atomic Comics in Mesa, Ariz., where all seven Image Comics founders will be signing Saturday afternoon. Closer to Hollywood, writer J.M. DeMatteis of Justice League International and Abadazad fame will make a rare West Coast appearance at Meltdown Comics' Hollywood location on Sunset. Golden Apple Comics has a full day of events planned, including appearances by Top Cow creators. Manhattan Beach's Comic Bug will have a large crowd of pros and plans a special screening of "The Rocketeer" featuring screenwriters Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo in honor of the character's creator, Dave Stevens, who died a few months back.

If you're looking for a participating comic shop, head over to the event's site or the Comic Shop Locator Service, available online or by calling 1-800-COMIC-BOOK.

Now that the East Coast party known as New York Comic-Con is done, the nation's ongoing celebration of comics comes back west, where the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books sets aside for the first time a section called The Comix Strip that spotlights the art form. Exhibitors include Image Comics, Boom! Studios and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Three panels are planned: "Comics: Superheroes of the Stage and Screen" is Saturday at 10 a.m., with "Heroes" exec producer Jeph Loeb, "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola and "30 Days of Night" creator Steve Niles; "Reading Manga: A Japanese Phenomenon Comes to America" will be held Saturday at 3 p.m., with Liza Coppola of Viz Media, Lillian Diaz Przybyl of TOKYOPOP, and manga expert Frederik Schodt; and "Graphic Novels: Every Picture Tells a Story" on Sunday at 3 p.m.  with moderator Deborah Vankin, "The PLAIN Janes" writer Cecil Castellucci, "Love and Rockets" co-creator Jaime Hernandez, and "Peepshow" creator Joe Matt. Check out the official site for The Comix Strip for details on times places and tickets (likely all sold out). ... The following weekend not only features Free Comic Book Day, but on Sunday, May 4, the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention returns to the Shrine Expo Center with special guest Stan Lee, who's promoting his new book "Election Daze," original "Speed Racer" voice actress Corinne Orr and "Gumby" creator Art Clokey.

COMICS TO FILM: Frank Miller's been talking a lot as he promotes his upcoming solo directing debut on "The Spirit." Miller says he's written "Sin City 2," which he expects to be part of a trilogy, and he wants to direct a film adaptation of "Hard Boiled," which he wrote for Geof Darrow back around 1990. ... The Los Angeles Times' "Scriptland" column also talks to Miller about the explosion in films based on graphic novels, including the following fascinating hook: "In a faddish frenzy, no fewer than 22 film projects born of graphic novels or comics have been announced in the last six weeks." ... New posters have surfaced for "The Spirit" — head here if you missed the teaser trailer — and "Wanted," pictured below.

CHALLENGE VIDEO: Platinum Studios has put together a promo video for its annual Comic Book Challenge competition. Check it out below. Submissions open May 1, with judging set again for Comic-Con Intl. in San Diego.

MORE MARVEL NEWS: Fellow Variety blogger Anne Thompson reports midnight screenings are planned for the release of "Iron Man" next week, even as the studio attempts to tamp down possibly overhyped expectations for the pic. ... Marvel has lured Ira Rubenstein away from Sony Pictures to head up its growing online and digital ambitions. Formerly exec VP of Sony Pictures Digital, Rubenstein will oversee all the company's online sites, including Marvel Digital Comics and MarvelKids.com. ... Eric Rollman has been promoted to president of Marvel Animation. Rollman's previous title with the company was exec VP home entertainment and TV production. ... Marvel's plans for a theme park in the United Arab Emirates has switched developers as the company signs with Tatweer.

Our reviews get down to the Marvel section of the stack, starting with The Mighty Avengers #10-11 (Marvel, $2.99 each). While I've never quite taken to The Sentry, the 1970s look and feel of the story as Sentry and Iron Man go back in time to the 1970s with Dr. Doom and then come back for a big throwdown in Latveria made for some cool, old-school comicbook action that went down easy. .... I liked The New Avengers #39 (Marvel, $2.99) for different reasons, not the least of which was the dark mood evoked by David Mack's art as Maya Lopez and Wolverine tackle Skrull imposters. ... I cared not one whit for the way in which the Peter Parker-Mary Jane marriage was dissolved, but the rollicking nature of the thrice-monthly "Brand New Day" stories is definitely a throwback — in a good way — to the comics of yore. Toss in some stunning visuals by Chris Bachalo, whose art seems much better suited to Spider-Man than it ever was to X-Men, and The Amazing Spider-Man #555-556 (Marvel, $2.99 each) are winners. ...

Kick-Ass #2 (Icon, $2.99) is about as gut-wrenching as it gets. It also proves that sometimes it's extremely entertaining to watch characters do something they know is incredibly stupid. ... War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle #1 (Max, $2.99) was much goofier than I expected for a World War I flying ace story by Garth Ennis and Howard Chaykin. It has its charms, though I can't help but feel the tale of a naive pilot expecting glory only to face the true horrors of war is going in a predictable direction. ...

Cable #2 (Marvel, $2.99) is hard to judge because so far the story been little more than a continuation of the plot from the recent "Messiah Complex" crossover. Still, the combination of painted art and Photoshopped realism by Ariel Olivetti is fantastic and worth a look at on its own. ... X-Men: Legacy #209 (Marvel, $2.99) is another continuation from "Messiah Complex," though there's a lot of stuff going on in here that will appeal to the longtime X-Men fan. Mike Carey mines continuity with unusually interesting results and it's all drawn very nicely by Scot Eaton and Philip Tan. ... More "Messiah" fallout in Young X-Men #1 (Marvel, $2.99), as "Eli Stone" creator Marc Guggenheim catches fans up on the various New X-Men characters, reducing this spinoff's appeal to that of fans of that now-canceled book. ... Wolverine: First Class #1 (Marvel, $2.99) falls into the same concept as X-Men: First Class — simple, all-ages stories focused on younger characters from the X-Men's past. I think appealing to that kind of audience works better when you don't turn it into a separate line of comics. This book, featuring Wolverine and young Kitty Pryde, doesn't succeed qutie as well as Jeff Parker's X-Men: First Class, but the nostalgia and simple fun make it hard to pick on this one too much. ... Wolverine #63-64 (Marvel, $2.99 each) continue the "Get Mystique" storyline, which straddles a modern encounter in Afghanistan and an early meeting of the characters in 1920s Kansas City. This works pretty well, thanks to creators — Jason Aaron of Scalped and underrated veteran Ron Garney — who manage to make Logan's tough nonchalance and Mystique's sexy/evil combo an entertaining and convincing one.

CON WIPEOUT: Expect things to be quiet the next few days as the industry recovers from New York Comic-Con, which is being hailed as a smashing success across the comics blogosphere. ... The con's official blog estimates attendance as at least 64,000, a pretty big jump from the 49,000 who showed up last year. ... Sci fi site IO9 has a gushing report on the panel and preview of Marvel's "Incredible Hulk" movie. ... IO9 also reports on the new trailer for "The Dark Knight" previewed at the show. ... Boom! Studios announced a deal with the Jim Henson Co. to produce a series of miniseries based on the cult-favorite sci-fi show "Farscape." ... "Heroes" star Milo Ventimiglia's previously mentioned comicbook project with Devil's Due is titled "Rest." Variety's Marc Graser writes the four-issue series "will revolve around the dangers of staying awake as a man is drawn into a conspiracy between a malevolent pharmaceutical company and the U.S. government." ... Tom Spurgeon at Comics Reporter offers a fascinating list of 50 notes and observations from the con floor. ... Midway Games has confirmed that its next version of "Mortal Kombat" will pit the videogame's famed fighters against the heroes and villains of the DC Universe.

COMICS IN FILM: CHUD reports Joel Silver saying at this weekend's "Speed Racer" junket that WB's troubled "Justice League" movie is being tabled. ... Jennifer Garner's Vandalia Films banner is developing the Oni Press series "Three Days in Europe" as a feature in conjunction with Hugh Jackman's Seed Productions. The actors would star as a couple who face danger on what was to be a romantic vacation.

Black Entertainment Television has set an animated series based on Marvel's "The Black Panther." The Panther was the first black superhero, first appearing in 1966's Fantastic Four #52, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He's been an on-again, off-again member of the The Avengers, and starred in two solo comic series in the past decade. Here's the PR description:

THE BLACK PANTHER – From Marvel Comics®, who brought the world Spider-Man, X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Iron Man, comes a primetime animated series featuring the first Black superhero. A wise and just African warrior king. A technologically advanced superhero with a proud past. BET presents THE BLACK PANTHER. PREMIERING Q1 2009

In other news, TOKYOPOP has announced a new graphic novel line, called — shockingly — TOKYOPOP Graphic Novels, that will bring full-color GNs from around the world to the U.S. The line will launch next February. Full PR details, including launch titles, in the jump.

Stan Lee has signed on with Virgin Comics to create and oversee as editor a new line of superhero comics.

According to the L.A. Times, Lee will write one title himself and describes the project thusly:

"It will be a team of 10 heroes and they will be dealing with personality conflicts, personal problems and chemistry within the team," Lee said in an interview this week. "I'm going to get started working on it right away and I'm very excited about doing something that will be fresh and breaking new ground. I can't give away the details or the names yet, but I have some exciting things in mind."

These both look pretty cool. Look for "The Spirit" trailer online later today, after its NYCC panel.

At a benefit reading for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, writer Neil Gaiman surprised the crowd with news that a Georgia judge has  dismissed the criminal case against retailer Gordon Lee. Lee had been charged with distributing materials harmful to a minor and local prosecutors aggressively pressed the case against him, and had promised to proceed with the case despite a mistrial. The judge's dismissal ends the case against Lee. The fund, which defended Lee, reportedly spent more than $100,000 on the case.