What a news day...

Quite a few announcements were made today in the world of comics. I always hate the weekends when nothing is being posted, but Monday...ah, I love Mondays. There's Lying In the Gutters, Richard Johnston's rumor column over at Comic Book Resources, as well as Diamond's updated shipping schedule for this week and the next. It's just a nice way to begin the week. But this Monday, on top of those things, we get some fairly big announcements (see more at Newsarama).

Chimera Studios is leaving Speakeasy for a U.K. publisher. Sad news. I really like Speakeasy. Not that this is a particularly nasty loss. Of Bitter Souls was one of my 5 worst books of 2005 and Smoke & Mirror was "eh."

Also leaving Speakeasy is a book I was really looking forward to - Strangeways, about werewolves in the Old West. Matt Maxwell reported that he was pulling it out of the company, which sucks so close to the release date, especially since there's no publisher lined up for the book. Ah, well. At least Speakeasy has Rosario Dawson's book lined up...

Will Toale was confirmed as the face (and body...and I mean, body) of Aquaman in the WB series which is slated for next Fall.

And lastly, Marvel has parted ways with Toy Biz, Inc., venturing forth with their toys by way of Hasbro.

Books I'm planning to pick up this Wednesday at the ol' local comic store:
- Book of Lost Souls #4
- DMZ #3
- Fables #45
- Shojo Beat: February '06
- Spider-man vs. Silver Sable TP
- X-Men: The 198 #1 (provided a quick glance through the book is enough to convince me of giving it a shot)