Jerry Robinson, the legendary comic book artist who created Batman's nemesis The Joker, among other characters in the comic book "Golden Age," died in his sleep last night in New York. He was 89. more ›

Will The Amazing Spider-Man (currently filming around New York City) be more successful than the disastrous musical on Broadway? Because, you know, there's no James Franco in this one... so it's not looking so good. Will Andrew Garfield be able to fill Tobey Maguire's Spidey costume? That's what some superfans are asking. And will we ever get a real peek at what this movie's villain, The Lizard, looks like? Not if they keep him under wraps. more ›

This morning Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano showed off the new fire safety comic book alongside Captain America, Spider-Man, and some of the Bravest, who all took time from their busy life-saving schedules to be on hand. This isn't some second-rate comic, either, the FDNY teamed up with Marvel to make it happen! Fingers crossed they'll team up with Bono for a musical version. more ›

In 1976, Cathy Guisewite introduced her Cathy character to the masses—a strip that eventually made its way to 700 newspapers, and plenty of cubicle walls. Yesterday Guisewite announced that Cathy will be ending her newsprint journey in October—meaning she'll no longer be obsessing about weight, chocolate, or her controlling mother. Guisewite told the Chicago Tribune, "I like to think that 'Cathy' is the voice for women who can't say, 'I feel stupid about something silly, but it still really ruined my day.'" more ›

You know you've found yourself asking yourself this question: what would happen if Manhattan was the last bastion in a civil war that has reduced the United States' holdings to Long Island and pitted neighborhood against neighborhood in the quest for survival and peace? You'd get Brian Wood's DMZ. The graphic novel illustrator and writer has been telling the story of Matty Roth, a Long Island photojournalism intern who crashes on Manhattan and gets an inside look at life in a war zone, since 2005. The 8th installment comes out one June 2nd, and Wood told us a little about life in the city and what it's like for an outsider to work his way in. more ›

Over the weekend, Pier 94 was the place to be for fans of comic books, science fiction, and other TV shows with the Big Apple Comic Con taking place. more ›

Earlier today, family members said actor and comedian Dom DeLuise had passed away. The cause was not disclosed, but his agent said the 75-year-old actor "had high blood pressure, he had diabetes, he had lots of things," though he seemed fine a few weeks ago. DeLuise was born in Brooklyn and attended the High School for Performing Arts (he went to Tufts for college) and performed on Broadway and Off-Broadway before appearing in movies. He became beloved to many for his roles in Mel Brooks films ( as hosted an episode of the Muppet Show (see it here, parts one, two, and three). more ›

Anthony Lappé is a writer, blogger, television producer and executive editor of GNN.tv, the web site for the Guerrilla News Network. He's written for mainstream press like the Times and was the National Affairs Editor for Black Book, and in 2003 he collaborated on the award-winning Showtime documentary about Iraq called BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge, which covered the front lines of the simmering guerrilla war in Iraq in 2003. Part of what he saw there influenced his new graphic novel, Shooting War, which started out as a serial on the Smith Magazine website. The lavish hardcover print edition, with illustrations by Dan Goldman, follows the gonzo adventures of a New York blogger who becomes a media darling in 2011 after his footage of a bombing at a Williamsburg Starbucks gets picked up by the mainstream media. Looking to keep coverage of the ongoing Iraq quagmire edgy, a global news network hires him to bring a youth angle to the guerrilla war. Part satire, part dystopian nightmare, Shooting War is unflinching in its depiction of the hellish future toward which the Bush administration is corralling us. more ›

The guy who spent $369.14 in a quixotic attempt to patronize each of Manhattan’s 171 Starbucks in a single day is back in the news, and this time it’s the corporate giant that’s helping him out. Comic Mark Malkoff will be living at the Paramus, NJ IKEA for the next week while his apartment is fumigated. And of course, he’ll be documenting every waking moment. Here’s the first installment: more ›

ART: Art, fashion and blogs meet tonight at the Met. In an exhibition entitled blog.mode: addressing fashion, viewers will be able to comment on what they see. It's "the first in a series of shows designed to promote critical and creative dialogues about fashion. The exhibition presents some forty costumes and accessories dating from the eighteenth century to the present." Visitors are then encouraged to share their reactions online or from a "blogbar" of computer terminals in the exhibition galleries. Pictured is one of the dresses -- you know you have comment about it. more ›

The DC Comic Watchmen is coming to the big screen, and the NYC sets were recently revealed! They aren't tearing apart town or stopping traffic like Cloverfield or I Am Legend, instead they're filming the alternate universe New York, mostly circa 1985, in Vancouver. Director Zack Snyder said:After a couple months of shooting at various locations and on stages, last week we finally made the transition to our New York City backlot. Since the New... more ›

Sean L. McCarthy has got it made. Blogger of comedy for The NY Daily News, New York's Funniest Reporter , and he spends his nights hanging out with some of the funniest people in the world. A truly enviable position! What's his secret? How did he get to where he is? Gothamist wanted to know and found out! more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A "large dispute" at JFK Airport; a school bus accident at Broadway and 37th Street in Manhattan; and a car-into-a-house on Murdock Ave in Queens. Rudy Giuliani says people giving him a hard time about rooting for the Red Sox "should give [him] a break." People to Giuliani, "No way, not when you make it so easy!" Awesome Halloween decoration in Greenpoint. A different kind of customized candy to... more ›

MOVIE: Guess it's only fitting that Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Team America play somewhere tonight. This Bushwick theater is new and on an outdoor rooftop -- so check the sky before you head out. If it's all clear, get ready for food from their grill, drinks from their bar and the wind in your hair. more ›

THEATER: Let’s never take for granted that we live in a city where, tonight, for instance, we can stop on our way home from work and peer into a storefront window, where video screens broadcast a live criminal confession being performed inside. The storefront belongs to theater production company chashama; the “happening” tonight is the concluding part of Televised Confession, a multimedia performance installation by Stephanie Vella. “Inspired by the use of televised confession by oppressive regimes throughout the world, Televised Confession explores how the televised image changes our experience of guilt, accountability and social order. On stage, a performer confesses to a crime. Live-feed video and amplified sound carry her mediated image out to the sidewalk and the passerby. The spectator must choose between the broadcast image and the real person.” - John Del Signore more ›

The new J.J. Abrams movie which is still listed as Untitled, but is unofficially being referred to as Cloverfield, was filming on the Lower East Side yesterday and last night. Did anyone catch it? The monster movie is due out January 18th, 2008 - and this past week Abrams spoke of the somewhat mysterious project at Comic-Con. more ›

We may have to wait until next April for Comic Con in New York, but there's plenty of comic goodness over at the Puck Building this weekend at the MoCCA Art Festival. Their well-punctuated description promises a generous dose of the genre: "Meet comics and cartoon artists! Four full ballrooms of cartoonists and publishers! Get sketches and autographs from Bill Sienkiewicz, Joe Staton, Arthur Suydam and others at the MoCCA Fundraising Sketch Table! Buy comics, comix, cartoons, graphic novels as well as prints and original artwork! Sit in on our always entertaining and educational panel sessions!" more ›

READING: FreeNYC points us to a reading at B&N featuring Gong Show guru and possible CIA assassin, Chuck Barris: more ›

Spider-Man Week is coming to an end. What happened out there while we weren't looking? In one of the more interesting spider events this week, Tobey Maguire got a big creature placed on his arm at AMNH by entymologist and curator Norm Platnick: more ›

READINGS: Russell Simmons has written a self-help book and will be at Border's today promoting it (okay, now all of this recent noise he's making makes more sense)! It's called "Do You! 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success." None of the laws include any of these three words. more ›

Comedian John Roy has been all over TV and the country. He's won Star Search 2003, was featured in season 4 of Last Comic Standing, has been on Comics Unleashed and Premium Blend, and now he's coming to the Comic Strip on March 20th and 21st. more ›

At the end of this month, your friendly neighborhood Spider Man will be all over New York for...Spider Man week! A five-borough-wide celebration (marketing ploy) featuring a ton of live events, screenings, parties and exhibits. The city has been central to the Marvel Comics legend since Spidey's beginning in 1962, so it only makes sense to launch the latest movie here. more ›

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Believe it or not, there have been some truly exciting moments in theater during the past month, albeit unintentionally. Theater blogger What’s Good/What Blows alerted readers to this NY Post interview with two stars of the Broadway hit Spring Awakening. It seems the show’s sizzling sex scene has provoked audiences in more ways than one. Actor Jonathan Groff divulged that "some guy was kicked out of the mezzanine for masturbating.” Since Spring Awakening also seats some audience members up on stage, we think the producers may want to get out ahead of this thing and invest in some Gallagher-esque ponchos for the first few rows. (Read about one theatergoer’s onstage experience here.) more ›

writer and performer, popping up on stages at parties and bars across town to rattle off his unique musical blend into the mic. Whether reporting on Comic-Con, waxing lyrical about Alan Moore, performing with Kochie Banton, auditionining for Gizmodo's theme song competition, or throwing wild parties, he puts 100% of himself into the task at hand, and has a wonderful time doing so. more ›

27. The story goes something like this: I was working as a standup comedian. I started doing standup when I was twenty-two and was fairly clean living. Some drinking, but no drugs to speak of. I started performing in the Bay Area at clubs around San Francisco, working with some of the comics up there who smoked almost after every show. I started doing it with them. For the first few years that I smoked pot, I was kind of a pot mooch. I just smoked basically when I was working with other comedians who smoked pot and then eventually I realized that I had to strike out, buy some on my own, and now I'm a card carrying medical marijuana patient. more ›

Peelander Z is: Kengoswee, K.O. and Antonio Kazuki more ›

THEATER: In September 2005, theater director Peter S. Petralia embarked on the Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting with artists from around the world for as long as the train stayed in the station. He would give them an art "package" and they, in return, would send something back to him. His collection of art objects and stories have culminated in Invisible Messages, currently running at P.S. 122 through Sunday. The multimedia work uses Petralia’s art-experiment as a springboard to examine the imaginary lives of three divergent people. Martin Denton at nytheatre.com calls the multimedia work a “compelling meditation on … the invisible messages that we constantly send out to the world about ourselves as we ‘perform’ our lives." - John Del Signore more ›

Tonight is the opening reception of She Draws Comics at MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art). The exhibit will celebrate a century of women cartoonists, the opening reception features curator Trina Robbins. more ›

Perhaps you've heard that this little summer movie starring a seldom written about actor is out this weekend: ie. with the utterly crazoid, yet infinitely fascinating Tom Cruise. He flies in helicopters! Rides fire engines! Attends screenings of his movie in Harlem! And, he wants your $10.75. Will you be powerless to resist? Here's a few other movie going options this weekend, if you've decided to boycott the work of Suri's papa. more ›