Earlier this month, Marvel Comics anti-hero the Punisher made his way back to theaters for the third time in “Punisher: War Zone,” an ultraviolent film focused on the one-man death squad Frank Castle and his nemesis, Jigsaw. With a new “Punisher” comic book series set to launch in January, Splash Page talked with former “Punisher: War Journal” writer Rick Remender about what makes the man behind the mayhem tick, and why readers will be ready for his relaunch.

“I think the great thing about Frank Castle is his purity and simplicity of concept. Gangsters murdered his family; and he went nuts and began hunting criminals. He’s Batman -- with one very fun difference -- Frank Castle will kill you,” laughed Remender. “That said, I think the uninitiated fan of the film or any new reader can get onboard fairly quickly… He’s a cold-hearted killer and you aren’t sure if you’re supposed to like him or root for him some of the time, but that reptilian part of our brains is a big fan of bloody revenge and capital punishment.”

(After the jump, read more of Remender's thoughts on Punisher and check out a 5-page preview of "Punisher" #1.) Read more...

For fans of the cult favorite sci-fi television show "Farscape," which ended its four-year run on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2003, the adventure is about to begin again -- or rather, pick up where it left off. Series creator Rockne O’Bannon has returned to world of “Farscape” to continue the story, not as a television series, but as a four-issue comic book miniseries due out December 24 from Boom Studios.

Plotted by O’Bannon and scripted by "Farscape" novelist Keith R. A. DeCandido, the new comic will explore the events that take place immediately after the 2004 television miniseries “Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars,” a four-hour finale that changed the status quo of the “Farscape” universe dramatically.

“The Peacekeeper Wars mini-series was designed to be a grand and fitting climax to the ‘Farscape’ saga, in case that was as far as it went. But it also left the door open for further adventures if that ever became a possibility,” says O’Bannon. “When the opportunity to return to the ‘Farscape’ universe with all new stories in a Boom Studios comic series became available, it was wildly exciting.” Read more...

The historic victory by President-Elect Barack Obama is still sinking in for many Americans, and among the majority of creators in the comics industry, the mood is jubilant. Support for Obama has been notably strong within comics, where scores of creators publicly expressed their support for the Democratic candidate, and even Image Comics hero Savage Dragon endorsed Obama in a recent issue (thanks, of course, to writer Erik Larsen). The industry enthusiasm lead to a fundraising initiative called The Comics Industry for Barack Obama, which raised over $5,000 through auction donations of art and autographed books from comics pros like Alex Ross, Mike Mignola, Eric Powell, Jaime Hernandez, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.

“Incredible Hercules” and “Marvel Zombies 3” writer Fred Van Lente and his wife got personally involved in the election process, working at a phone bank in Brooklyn, New York on the night of the election to help get out the vote for Obama. Read more...

When Rob Venditti was still in the process of writing the comic book script that would become "The Surrogates", he and his wife daydreamed one night about who might star in a hypothetic film adaptation. Although it was the first comic he’d ever written -– and didn’t even have a publisher attached -– comic book movies were scoring big at the box office, and they couldn’t help but daydream. Bruce Willis, they both decided, would be the perfect choice: tough enough for the action scenes, but still vulnerable enough for the more human moments.

Now, more than five years later, the story he wrote while working in the warehouse at Top Shelf Productions is not only a graphic novel from the renowned indie publisher with a second volume, "Flesh and Bone", on the way, but a feature film in post-production, starring none other than -– you guessed it –- Bruce Willis.

(After the jump, check out an exclusive preview of some of the earliest pages from "Flesh and Bone", a prequel story set 15 years before the first graphic novel, as well as our conversation with Venditti about the origin, development and evolving world of "The Surrogates.") Read more...

In superhero comics, secret identities have always let people transform from something ordinary into something extraordinary; just stepping into spandex can turn the mild-mannered Clark Kent into Superman, or dorky Peter Parker into a wise-cracking web-swinger. But for one new Marvel Comics hero, the Blue Marvel, becoming a superhero means something even more: transcending the color of his skin during the Jim Crow era in America.

Created by "Underworld" movie star and "New Warriors" writer Kevin Grevioux, the new six-issue miniseries "Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel" tells the story of a black man who becomes a superhero during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and '60s, wearing a head-to-toe costume that hides his skin color. But despite being one of the most powerful men on Earth, he still faces the pervasive racial prejudice of his era whenever he takes off his costume.
Read more...

The first day of shooting for "Kick-Ass" began Saturday in London, where Mark Millar -- writer of the "Kick-Ass" comic book -- said initial scenes were filmed at a sewage factory. “I was expecting a lot of glamor, and now I smell of poo,” laughed Millar. “We were shooting from early this morning till [after midnight]… I’m too tired to have a shower, but I must have a shower.”

On set for Saturday’s shoot was Nicolas Cage, who plays Big Daddy, a former cop who trains his pre-pubescent daughter, “Hit-Girl” (Chloë Moretz), to become a lethal crime fighter. Millar added that despite Cage’s stature as a movie star and the, uh, crappy circumstances of the first day, “he never complained once during shooting. He’s such a good guy. Everybody loved him.” Read more...

After numerous delays, the new Bruce Campbell movie, "My Name Is Bruce," has finally announced an October release date, but for comic book fans, the first taste of the long-awaited film will come a month earlier. A one-shot comic book companion to the movie, written by Milton Freewater, Jr. and penciled by Cliff Richards, is due out on September 24th from Dark Horse Comics.

Both the movie and the comic will feature Bruce Campbell, the sarcastic star of the campy, cult-horror movie "Evil Dead"... as himself. Kidnapped by a fan who believes that he is Ash (his character from "Evil Dead") and can defeat the demon plaguing a small Oregon town, the actor is forced to face down a real monster -– which turns out to be more difficult than it looks in the movies. (After the jump, an interview with the writer and an exclusive three-page preview!) Read more...