It’s that time of year again, when geeks of the world unite in solidarity under the bright, fluorescent lights of the San Diego Convention Center so that they may worship at the altar of all things geek. Yes, the week long celebration of comics and pop culture that is Comic-Con is upon us once again. Click through and check out our Comic-Con 2012 Preview.

And in honor of the release of The Walking Dead‘s monumental 100th issue, enjoy some photos from this morning’s zombie-rific midnight release party at Omaha’s Krypton Comics.

There was cake.

So far the biggest news (to me) coming out of San Diego is that Brian Wood (Conan the Barbarian, Ultimate X-Men) is writing a new Star Wars comic for Dark Horse. From Wood’s tumblr:

I’m writing an ongoing Star Wars book for Dark Horse. Not just any Star Wars book, this will be called “Star Wars”, and will be set in the original trilogy, using the classic characters, and will pretend like its 1977 and no other films were every made or books ever written aside from “A New Hope”. Carlos D’Anda is on art, Gabe Eltaeb on colors, and Alex Ross on covers. LucasFilm asked for me personally, and I felt it too irresistible a job to pass up.  I’m three scripts into it and having fun.  The book launches in Dec or January.

Oh yeah, Leia’s an X-Wing pilot.

I already can’t wait for this book. Check out some of D’Anda’s artwork:

In other news, expect Marvel to have an impressive series of panels detailing its upcoming NOW! reboot/relaunch initiative. But before Marvel can release one relaunched or new title each week from October through February, some of its current comics need to end in order to make room for the new books.

On the chopping block before October’s relaunch are Captain America, Fantastic Four, FF, Incredible Hulk, Invincible Iron Man, New Mutants, The Mighty Thor, Uncanny X-Men and X-Men Legacy.

Some of these come as no surprise, as Ed Brubaker had previously stated that he’d be wrapping his seven-year run on Captain America, and Jonathan Hickman has had a planned ending for his Fantastic Four/FF books. But something like Uncanny X-Men comes as a bit of a surprise, given that the title was just relaunched with a new #1 less than a year ago. With this many high-profile titles ending, it will be interesting to see what else Marvel has up its sleeve for NOW!

In addition to all the Marvel NOW! news, the publisher continues to publish book and TV tie-ins. While Marvel’s Dark Tower adaptation is coming to a close, Marvel will be announcing a new media miniseries in San Diego: Dexter. The popular serial killer, star of book and small screen, is getting the comic book treatment from creator Jeff Lindsay as a five-issue miniseries starting in October.

Other interesting news that has trickled out of the Marvel camp includes another “End Times” comic, but what makes this one interesting is that it’s called Daredevil: End of Days and it’s written by Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack, with art by Klaus Janson and Bill Sienkiewicz and covers from Alex Maleev. What do all those names have in common? Well, they’ve all had memorable runs with Matt Murdock, and to see them brought together to tell the “final” Daredevil story, that could be something very special.

Also, we all know Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, but does he always have to be so PG-13 about it? Even at his most badass in the second X-Men movie, he didn’t draw blood. Not that we, the precious audience saw. But now, thanks to Marvel’s MAX imprint, we’re going to get a chance to see just how good a raw, unadulterated uncensored Wolverine can really be. Award-winning crime novelist Jason Starr is taking the reins of Wolverine: MAX, with covers by the amazing Jock.

If it seems like most of this news is from Marvel, well, you’re right. They’re the first publisher to release info about their post-Comic-Con plans. Once the convention begins in earnest Thursday, the floodgates will open and the Internet will be awash in geeky goodness. So be sure to check back here next week, where I’ll sift through the detritus and come up with some geeky gold for you to read.

Until then, check out my “Picks of the Week” below and head out to your local comic shop for some kick ass comics.

Oh, and here are some zombies* …

*The adult Zombie is Tim Welch. You can check out his horror movie podcast at Necronomicast.com.

Picks of the Week

• Batman #11 (DC Comics), by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
• Conan the Barbarian #6 (Dark Horse), by Brian Wood and James Harren
• The Masssive #2 (Dark Horse), by Brian Wood and Kristian Donaldson
  
• Punk Rock Jesus #1 (DC/Vertigo), by Sean Murphy
  
• The Walking Dead #100 (Image), by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard
  

Related articles

• Nine titles end in October as Marvel NOW! begins (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
• SDCC 2012: Brian Wood is Writing STAR WARS (ifanboy.com)
• SDCC ’12 | Dark Horse to launch Star Wars by Brian Wood (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
• Pick of the Week – The Walking Dead #100 (graphicpolicy.com)