The "Michael Jackson, King Of Pop" biography comic hitting shelves tomorrow has sold out in pre-release orders and is getting a new printing, according to publisher Bluewater Productions—and we have your first look at the new cover.

Scheduled to hit shelves the same day as the massive Jackson concert documentary "This Is It," Bluewater's "King of Pop" comic book promises to "trace Jackson’s rise as a musical prodigy with the Jackson 5 through his tragic passing in June."

The new printing of the book will feature a cover by Giuseppe Mazzola from Jackson’s official fan club, who also provides the foreword to the larger, 30-page edition of the book. Bluewater has provided Splash Page readers with the first look at the cover. Read more...

Back in August, we gave you the first look at the upcoming "Tribute: Michael Jackson, King Of Pop" comic book with a five-page preview. Now, just two days before it hits shelves—right alongside the premiere of the Michael Jackson movie event "This Is It"—we have six more pages to show you from the comic.

Promising to chronicle the entertainer's life and many contributions to music and pop culture, "Tribute" features a wraparound cover and forward by Giuseppe Mazzola, a member of "The Official Michael Jackson Fan Club" and a personal friend of the musician. Wey-Yuih Loh ("Political Power: Colin Powell") and Giovanni Timpano ("Vincent Price Presents") will write and illustrate the book, respectively. Read more...

It's common knowledge in comic book lore that a superhero never truly dies—and it looks like that rule is crossing over into reality, if only for one upcoming comics project.

According to Bleeding Cool, a graphic novel written by none other than Michael Jackson himself is heading to comic book stores next June through Random House.

The graphic novel, titled "Fated," focuses on the story of Gabriel Star, a well-loved musician with obvious parallels to the tragically deceased King of Pop. In the book, Star's failed suicide attempt results in his popularity rising even further, elevating the character to literal supernatural status. Read more...

Back in June, we told you about Bluewater Productions' plans to publish the comic book biography "Tribute: Michael Jackson, King Of Pop." Now, we have your first look at the comic, which will chronicle the entertainer's life and many contributions to music and pop culture.

Click on the image below for a five-page preview of "Tribute: Michael Jackson, King Of Pop," which hits shelves in October and features a wraparound cover and forward by Giuseppe Mazzola, a member of "The Official Michael Jackson Fan Club" and a personal friend of the musician. Wey-Yuih Loh ("Political Power: Colin Powell") and Giovanni Timpano ("Vincent Price Presents") will write and illustrate the book, respectively.

According to Bluewater president Darren G. Davis, "Tribute" will be a 24-page comic that will also include a "special section we are working on with Golden Apple Comics, the store Michael Jackson shopped at for the last 20 years." Read more...

Previous generations had to linger around artists alley tables to listen in on what their favorite creators were saying behind the scenes.

Today, we have Twitter, where they present everything from opinions between Cameron Stewart and Andy Diggle on trending motion comics to Punisher Photoshoppery gone bizarre thanks to Rick Remender and Chuck BB. (That's "FrankenQuesada" pictured here.)

Elsewhere, away from the hubbub, Chris Eliopoulos pondered where his trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom would fit in on his taxes next year, and Ben Templesmith tossed in his thoughts on Ted Kennedy. You can find it all below in the Twitter Report for August 27, 2009. Read more...

Last month, Michael Jackson's death prompted a recollection of how close he and Stan Lee came to buying Marvel Comics. The piece received quite a bit of attention, so when I had the chance to talk with Lee during this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, I had to ask the legendary co-creator of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk and countless other comic book superheroes about his professional and personal relationship with the King of Pop.

While Lee had kind words for the recently deceased pop culture icon, his mention of Jackson's interest in another of Lee's famous co-creations perked up my ears. In the grand tradition of Marvel Comics' famous series, Lee's response offered up a "What If?" tale involving Jackson and Spider-Man tailor-made for an alternate Marvel universe.

"I had been to his place in Neverland ... and he wanted to do Spider-Man," Lee told MTV News. "I'm not sure whether he just wanted to produce it or wanted to play the role, you know? Our conversation never got that far along." Read more...

As some of you following me on Twitter might already be aware, I left the friendly confines of Splash Page HQ last week to visit with the fine folks at Mezco Toyz and get the first look at some very cool, customized figures from their new line of "Mez-Itz" vinyl toys.

A few months back, Mezco announced that they were resizing the popular line of collectible figures from a 2.5- to a 6-inch scale, and would be delivering bunches of the blank figures to artists and animators around the world to create their own unique takes on the toys. From comic creators to musicians and animators, a variety of artists answered their call, and 60 of the custom Mez-Itz are going on display for the first time at San Diego's Comic-Con International this month.

But you can get your first, exclusive look at some of the coolest figures weeks ahead of time here on Splash Page! Read more...

Last week, I rounded up some of recently deceased entertainer Michael Jackson's connections to the world of comic books in a post that generated quite a bit of buzz around the comics scene. Unfortunately, I left out one particular cameo by the King of Pop that should have come to mind earlier -- mainly because it occurs in a comic I own.

As ComicMix points out, issue #16 of DC's late-'80s, adult-oriented anthology series "Wasteland" featured a story chronicling the downward spiral of a lonely girl named Shari Evenson whose obsession with a familiar-looking "dark prince named Michael" eventually leads her to take her own life. It's a small cameo, and writer John Ostrander never identifies the "Michael" as Jackson -- but it's pretty clear who the character is meant to represent. Read more...

Despite Michael Jackson's tragic death, his fans haven't seen the last of him. The King of Pop's presence will be felt forever in his music, his videos and even his... comic books?

In October, Michael Jackson will be memorialized in comic book form in "Tribute: Michael Jackson, King of Pop," a biography comic from Bluewater Productions, the same publisher responsible for the "Female Force" comics and forthcoming "Political Power" books (as well as the "Bo Obama" comic focusing on the U.S. President's puppy). Read more...

Yesterday evening I offered a brief overview of Michael Jackson's relationship with the world of comic books in the wake of the pop icon's death. Along with his status as a notable collector and fan of comics, Jackson nearly became a publisher a decade ago when he met with comics legend Stan Lee and his newly formed company Stan Lee Media to discuss a potential purchase of Marvel Comics.

Over at The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon directs readers attention to a set of home videos created during meetings between Jackson and Lee, as well as a video that follows Jackson and Lee on a tour of the headquarters for Stan Lee Media. Read more...