Things have been up and down for the NBC comedy Community lately, with a fantastic three-part season finale that included an 8-bit episode featuring the cast as video game characters (that's good!), the news that the fan-favorite show would return for a fourth season (that's good!) but that it would do so without creator and showrunner Dan Harmon, who was fired by NBC (that's bad). As fans ponder what the future holds for the show without the critical creative voice of Harmon, artist Dennis Culver helps soothe their broken hearts with a poster detailing every crazy costume of the flamboyant Dean Pelton, presented in chronological order. A 24"x36" print is available on Culver's website for $40.

The outfits worn by our favorite comic book characters are routinely skintight and, particularly with female characters, often quite revealing -- sometimes in the extreme. Adam Warren's longrunning and very acclaimed (by us, especially) graphic novel series Empowered takes this dubious convention of comics and runs with it to create something delightful, a sexy superhero comedy about a heroine whose hypermembrane costume becomes a major obstacle in her life; clinging embarrassingly to every contour of her body and completely falling apart whenever it feels like it.

Typically skintight superhero costumes can offer a challenge to cosplayers, but the winking audacity of Empowered's threads inspired photographer Paul Hiller to get really real with one of the most exceptional cosplay shoots we've ever seen. Check out how he and his team realized Warren's outrageous Empowered design with the help of liquid latex.

NOTE: Some of these images may be considered not-safe-for-work.

Celebrating its Superman Facebook page's 2,043,695 and counting "likes," DC Comics has released two new preview pages from Superman: Earth One Vol. 2 by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis. Due out October 31, the OGN will explore a darker side to the young Superman, as demonstrated by a cover featuring the Man of Steel floating solemnly over a pile of burning human skulls. This brand of literal face-melting is repeated in one of the new preview pages, as Supes (presumably) fantasizes about murdering an evil dictator with his incendiary heat vision. Meanwhile, the other page is equally murder-y, this time on behalf of the evil Parasite, who sort of bears a passing resemblance to the X-Men character Maggot. You can scope out the two new Superman: Earth One Vol. 2 pages after the cut.

Given our noted love of both Capcom's classic Mega Man games and hip-hop, it pretty much goes without saying that the staff of ComicsAlliance loves Mega Ran, aka Random, aka middle school Language Arts teacher turned rapper Raheem Jarbo. With his latest album, though, Ran takes the video game themes to the next level with Language Arts, a concept album and playable video game that tell the story of Mega Ran battling mind-controlled zombie students through action-packed rap battles. And if it sounds awesome, that's because it is. We've got a few tracks and a preview of the game right here for your enjoyment.

Attention, everyone who's registered for this year's San Diego Comic-Con International 2012: You won't be able to share your badge with friends this time around - and you might want to ensure that you're carrying a photo ID with exactly the same name as is on the badge at all times, just in case. Yes, Comic-Con is getting serious with its attendees this year, it seems.

Yes, yes, Avengers: You've had your day, being much-beloved and breaking box office records and everything. But this summer superhero movie showdown is only getting started, as Warner Bros. is patiently reminding everyone with two new television spots and a host of still images showcasing Christopher Nolan's final Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.

It's been a big week for gay super-heroes. Not only has Marvel's Northstar proposed to his boyfriend in Astonishing X-Men with a wedding set for next month, but DC has started dropping hints that one of their own characters is going to be coming out of the closet in a forthcoming announcement -- and that has kicked off speculation on just who it might be. So if you're in the mood to place a bet, you're in luck. Today, we're here to bring you the official betting odds on ten likely candidates for DC's next gay character!

The authors of Criminal, Sleeper and Incognito, Sean Phillips and Ed Brubaker have crafted yet another must-read series in Fatale, published by Image Comics. It's a bestseller, sure, but more than that, it's a really good comic. Brubaker and Phillips are examining the idea of the femme fatale by making her the focal point of the series, instead of just a looming threat, and throwing in a heaping helping of horror just to keep things fresh. If you aren't reading this series, you're missing out on the latest from one of the best writer/artist teams in comics.

After the jump, we've got an interview with Ed Brubaker and plenty of beautiful Sean Phillips art, with magnificent colors by Dave Stewart, for you to enjoy.

As much self-proclaimed hipster-themed art as we see around these parts, it's sometimes easy to overlook when artists convey the team as simply hip. Artist Andy MacDonald delivers in this regard, with an art series that dons the X-Men in contemporary, costume-inspired fashions that don't overdo things and look unironically awesome. It's no surprise considering how impressed we've been with MacDonald's work in the past, and his skills certainly don't stop at fashion, though he's applied a similar sensibility to some very nicely-dressed robots as well. Take a look at MacDonald's take on Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Jubilee, Beast and Gambit after the cut.

If you thought you had plenty of The Amazing Spider-Man movie action figure options from Hasbro and Diamond Select Toys' Marvel Select and Minimates lines, prepare to further empty the contents of your wallet. Hot Toys, Medicom and Kaiyodo will be releasing their own respective takes on the Webslinger this year and they all seem to do most everything a plastic spider can.

In last month's The Goon #39, writer/artist Eric Powell follows up a devastating satirical takedown of modern superhero comics --specifically DC's New 52 line -- with an essay titled "Where's Our Harry Potter?" Powell passionately argues that comics should tell, and must tell, more than just superhero stories to survive. Powell was pretty clearly talking about fiction, but the entire time I was reading his essay, I couldn't help but think of a book I read last year (which, incidentally, was released earlier this month in paperback from W. W. Norton & Company), Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld's The Influencing Machine, an in-depth examination of the history and impact of mass media. I've never read another comic like it, but I hope I get the opportunity to read many more.

Movies: G.I. Joe: Retaliation won't be coming out on June 29 as originally planned. Paramount is moving its opening to March 29, 2013. You know, for the 3D that the kids like. Sing it with me, "G.I. Noooooooooo!" [Deadline]

Theme Parks: China's forthcoming One Piece theme park is totally unsanctioned, in true pirate form. [Crunchyroll]

Digital: DC Comics is giving away a downloadable issue of Superman/Batman #1 for free until the end of today. [The Source]