Along with Marvel Entertainment comics, Disney, IDW Publishing, iVerse Media and several other publishers have supplied Sony with their wares, with 550 available today, including Iron Man, Spiderman, X-Men, Transformers and Archie.

Download them on your PSP over Wi-Fi, or on your PC and transfer over, with titles starting at 99 cents. Comic Book Guy is currently voicing his disgust all over the internet at the sacrilege of his prized Marvels. [PlayStation Comics]

Over the last few weeks I've been talking to people within the comics industry to try to sniff out Apple's plans, including Neal Adams, developer of an upcoming motion Astonishing X-Men comic on iTunes, who also told me the French saying. Everyone in Adams' line of work is buzzing about the tablet and what it can do for their masterpieces.

It's an easy presumption for comic book fans. The Sun Times' Andy Inhatko is betting that LongBox, a digital distribution platform for comic books, will make an appearance on Apple's upcoming tablet. More than just an appearance, really:

I'm pretty sure that Apple is entering into a formal alliance with LongBox. When I asked [LongBox CEO Rantz] Hoseley about what kind of partnerships the company is forming, he spoke vaguely of what was taking up most of his time at the moment: a lengthy and complicated agreement with a seriously large company operating in the media space.

One problem: Several sources I spoke to over the last couple of weeks, including top-level executives at giants like Marvel and DC, have said they've not heard a whisper from Apple—despite a nearly desperate hope that Apple would come a-courtin'. One executive said to me, when I mentioned the possibility of putting his comic books on the Apple tablet, "If you've heard anything from Apple, please tell them I'm ready to do it."

That means that LongBox may be the only distribution option for comic books at the tablet's launch, through some sort of dedicated LongBox app. And if LongBox's distribution plan for the Apple tablet is just an app, why would they need to do any negotiations with Apple? Launch the LongBox app, sell the content, and go. No Apple nod necessary.

We know that Apple has been reaching out to select publishers. It was Andy Inhatko who passed on the rumor about "trucks loaded with books" earlier this year. It all fits with the moves we already know Apple is making in its outreach to magazine and newspaper publishers. For Apple, the tablet is about cleaning up; with the addition of books, newspaper, magazines and comic books, there isn't a single vector of mass media that Apple won't be able to distribute through iTunes. With the success of the App Store—a success I think even Apple wasn't expecting to such a degree — they're even a major distributor of software and games.

Oh right, there's also music and video.

Marvel content, especially, seems like a given. Disney bought Pixar, putting Steve Jobs on the Disney board. Then Disney buys Marvel. Marvel has already dabbled in publishing content through iTunes, with a new "motion comic" version of The Astonishing X-Men hitting iTunes on October 28th.

I spoke to Inhatko on my tiny Apple tablet last week about his story. He's increasingly persuaded that Apple is content to let print publishers distribute their content through apps, not through the iTunes store itself.

He may very well be right, at least at the tablet's launch, especially given Apple's reticence to even acknowledge the tablet's existence, let alone provide publishers with detailed, unified specifications for an "iRead" format. But it also strikes me as an inelegant solution at best, especially considering iTunes 9's iTunes LP format is an HTML- and JavaScript-based 720p format that would work just wonderfully for a digital magazine and comics format.

Could just be wishful thinking on my part—I'd rather manage subscriptions through iTunes like podcasts, rather than individual apps—but either way it's a win for Apple, who will happily get their cut no matter what system of digital print distribution ultimately takes off. If you have any leads on comic book tablet activity, by all means, send us a tip.

There is one shocker I discovered in my discussions with Marvel folk: It's been confirmed to me that Hulk is stronger than Thor. Chew on that one for a while — at least until you can buy Hulk vs. Thor on iTunes. Excelsior!

Joel Johnson has a blog, but your best bet may be to follow him on Twitter @joeljohnson.

The free online app allows you to select between a slew of page layouts, then drag and drop your favorite (mini) Marvel heroes into each panel. Of course can also add text, sound effects objects—whatever you need to flesh out that 4-part series you've always wanted to see in which a prepubescent Wolverine struggles to uncover the roots of his inexplicably persistent five o'clock shadow.

But the best part is that the whole system is vector based, meaning that you can enlarge any element (like characters) as much as you'd like before exporting your comic to a fairly high rez PDF (that's free from watermarks or any other stuff that could sour the experience).

Though, I must admit, I fear to see what your minds come up with in the comments. Please keep in mind that none of these superheroes are of age. [Marvel via GeekDad]

That bad guy is creepy—like a cross between M. Bison and this dude I saw on the cover of an anime in Blockbuster when I was 5 and gave me nightmares for a while and Guyver.

The show's for the Japanese market by the animation giant Madhouse, so except for Iron Man looking like Iron Man and beating ass, it won't be a whole lot like the all-American Iron Man we know. Still, I seriously hope they consider re-importing it so I don't have to download fansubs.

But uh, don't <a href="even ask what they're doing to Wolverine. It's just better that way. [Topless Robot via Technabob]

Marvel's Joe Quesada said the project would be "not quite comics... not quite animation." The first Motion Comic to be offered, "Astonishing X-Men #1-10" will be directed by John Cassaday. I don't know... when reading comics, did you ever actually feel the need to watch Jean Grey blink? [Buzznewsroom]

We want a "DC vs Marvel: the Springfield Wars" miniseries now. [Springfield Punx, Thanks Oscar]

...View digital distribution of our comics as an area of great growth potential...and also soon in mobile distribution...so they can read our new comic books on their mobile device...

For those not just interested in the tech-based superheroes, Marvel also announced dates for Thor, The Avengers and a Captain America standalone. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Feature Film Slate Update:

Marvel today updated its feature film slate strategy and plans for the next three years, locking in key release windows for its character franchises. In order to focus its attention on maximizing the success of an Iron Man sequel and the launch of Thor in the summer of 2010 and because Marvel believes that the summer is the optimal time to launch a new property, the Company will not release a self produced film in 2009. Marvel plans to launch its 2010 film slate with the release of the sequel, Iron Man 2, on April 30, 2010, followed by the launch of Thor on June 4, 2010. Additionally, Marvel is planting its feature film stakes for summer 2011 with an Avengers-themed summer - a two-picture project which will debut on May 6, 2011 with The First Avenger: Captain America (working title), followed by The Avengers in July 2011.

Marvel's Chairman, Morton Handel, commented, "Adjusting for the strong year-ago contribution from the Spider-Man JV, Marvel's Q1 2008 operating results continued to demonstrate strong global demand for consumer products based on the Company's portfolio of characters. Marvel's self-produced feature film slate launched this past weekend with a performance that firmly establishes Iron Man as a major new film franchise, and the Company eagerly awaits the June premiere of The Incredible Hulk, Marvel's second self-produced film. In addition, Marvel has been investing in other important areas of growth such as the Internet where, to lead the Company's newly formed Global Digital Media Group, Marvel recently announced the hiring of Ira Rubenstein. Marvel has a strong foundation to build from, and the Company is adding infrastructure to maximize these opportunities."

The story, well, it's there. Stark, a wealthy playboy CEO and genius of his weapons company finds himself held hostage by terrorists using weapons he designed. The unbearable guilt and irony of the situation leads him to a change of heart and he wants to do the right thing. He builds an advanced exoskeleton suit, but it's not for the military. Oh no, he's done being a merchant of death. He's going to blow up evildoers using his weapons. It's believable to a nerd, like most comic books. (Because we want to believe.) But the tech, the tech is set up in a way that makes it unnecessary to suspend your disbelief. Just sit back and enjoy the techno porn. More or less.

There are blatant displays of advanced technology and engineering scattered in almost every moment of the movie. And not the cheesy kinds you'd find in shit like The Net or Hackers or Lawn Mower Man. It all looks so good and feels so good that know-it-all part of your geek brain won't trigger alarms at the fictional gadgets. Let me try to step through a few of 'em.

The heart of the film is the suit, whose beauty is only outweighed by its laundry list of abilities. Just know there's plenty of suit, and to good effect. When he first puts it on, the dialog between Stark and Jarvis reaches its nerdiest, with talk of suit compression leaks at altitude, Titanium gold alloys, air control surface test runs, and a lot more stuff I can't remember and shouldn't spoil.

The source of Iron Man's power is that little glowy ring in his chest, which creates massive power for its size (3.6 Kilajoules per second or something in its beta form). That too would be suspect since Tony micronized the company's room-sized Cold War arc reactor technology to fit in a watch box while being held captive in a cave. But hey, you're dealing with a genius here; the best engineers in Stark Enterprises attempt to re-create it in the labs, and call it impossible without Stark's spark.

Those are all very satisfying aspects of the suit, but you can find that in any superhero blockbuster. It was all the underlying geek subtext in between all the fights that made it worthwhile. There's a fun moment when Jarvis is giving Stark constant alerts of impending battery run-down and Stark yells back, "Shut up, just put it on my screen!" for an instant UI tweak. Watching the suit develop through trial and error helps to explain the power the exoskeleton has, and all the times he screws up while doing test runs make everything just a little more digestible of a fantasy.

The tech of Stark's house also hits us full in the face. The Malibu mansion's bedroom window doubles as an overwrought alarm clock with translucent touch interface spitting out dozens of metrics for the day including temperatures, news and other must-knows. As the camera pans away from the visuals, you see a unnecessary QWERTY on the side of the wall. Stark's one night stand, who awakes to this display of tech, looks half astounded. Rightfully so.

In his basement, Stark prototypes the primary Iron Man suit as a matter of obsession, and we're brought through the process. He's got multiple monitors, and a pen type stylus he uses the stylus to drag it all over, in real air, to another desk. The square is a holographic projector, but not some lame-ass one-way projector. He dips his hands into the well of light and the models in the air move with his touch. Bad designs get manually tossed into a digital bin on the side, one piece at a time. For the coup de grace, Stark reaches into the repulsor gauntlet design hologram, and wears it. Wears a hologram!

Tony's taste in real estate, women and weapon tech is high end, but the product placement of everyday brands didn't live up to the man's lifestyle. But I nitpick. Don't mind the wonderful Audi R8 in a dull silver (or those fake burnout noises), the S5, and a Q7 which plays as projectile in one urban battle. I mean, I like Audi, but this was overkill. The same complaint goes for the LG/Verizon handsets, which do video chat in the Afghani desert, and the Dell gear all over the place. At least I think I saw some Linux action going on in there. But I'd peg Stark for a guy who'd use a Nokia or Sony Ericsson, if not a hacked A-Phone.

Even the solution to the movie's final problem is a technical one, having to do with the suit's flight surfaces at altitude. The explosions and destruction are great, but it is the brains, via the fantasy gear's engineering that triumphs. And that's why Iron Man could be the perfect Gizmodo blockbuster.