firehose

Since news first broke of DC Comics’ plan to relocate its entire operation from New York City to Los Angeles, industry insiders have expected some high profile staffers would not only choose to leave DC Comics but actually make a jump to rival Marvel rather than move West. That scenario has come true with Marvel’s announcement that longtime DC staffer Mike Marts is joining the company as a new Executive Editor.

Marts previously worked at Marvel from the mid-’90s through the mid-aughts, editing books including New X-Men, Wolverine: Origin, Black Panther, Exiles, Astonishing X-Men and many more. At DC, Marts distinguished himself as Group Editor of the Batman line, overseeing the work of Grant Morrison and Scott Snyder.

“Mike Marts is a seasoned veteran who’s edited some of the most critically acclaimed and highest-selling series of the last decade,” said Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso in a press release. “I’m overjoyed to see him return home, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to Marvel!”

“It’s amazing to see how Marvel has grown as a company since I worked there last,” said Marts. “I am beyond thrilled to be rejoining this powerhouse at such an exciting time.”

There’s a lot of precedent for creators following editors on to new publishers, so it will be interesting to see which if any of Marts’ DC freelancers start popping up Marvel projects in the new year.

For want of a trailer or any official images, most of our impressions of what the Michael Bay-produced, Jonathan Liebesman-directed Ninja Turtles reboot will look like have come through Halloween costumes. Or through closing our eyes, mentally combining what we know about Michael Bay’s way with characterization with the brief, one-sentence descriptors supplied in the Ninja Turtles theme song, then adding steroids.

But thanks to some promotional art that’s surfaced over at Comic Book Therapy, we now have a much better idea of these extreme, next-generation Ninja Turtles and how their distinct personalities will be conveyed—besides the inevitably stereotypical dialect that comes out of their disconcertingly full turtle lips.

We already know Michelangelo is a party dude, hence the addition of “party dude” stuff like cool chains and tattoos. Leonardo leads, so he’s in front, wearing more traditional samurai garb, his oddly human eyes bearing the ...

Bill Murray, Aaron Paul, and Matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas hung out last night, thereby plunging the world into a vortex made up of simultaneously cool and very uncool things. The trio bro-ed out at Fox Sports 1’s Super Bash in New York, with Paul tweeting about spotting Murray during a live Kings Of Leon set. The Breaking Bad star was apparently pretty overwhelmed, writing, “I’m at Kings Of Leon in NYC and Bill Murray is standing behind me. What should I do? Kiss him? Tackle him? Confess my love? #billmurray.” Based on the photo subsequently posted to Thomas’ Twitter account, the answer was apparently “put an arm around him, open your mouth, and look really excited,” just like it would be for anyone else, bitch. 

In placing your final bets for who will triumph in Sunday’s match-up between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, it’s important for people who know nothing about football to consider factors others would deem utterly meaningless, i.e. the relative attractiveness of the quarterbacks’ significant others; the cuisines of the competing cities; snap inflation, which is a term we just made up; and, of course, whether The Simpsons already did it. And as the show’s Twitter account pointed out—like so many other future events either presaged or influenced by the show—the Broncos and Seahawks have played this match before, back in the 2005 episode, “Bonfire Of The Manatees,” with Denver besting Seattle 19-14. So, that settles that.

In the episode, Homer—having apparently regifted the Broncos, after Hank Scorpio generously made him their new owner—loses big by betting against his old team, on the ...

Cornering the Bitcoin market may be easier than cornering orange juice futures.

Paramount Pictures / Aurich Lawson

As it turns out, if you mine or trade Bitcoin “solely [for your own] purposes,” the United States Department of the Treasury doesn’t need you to register as a money transmitter as defined under the Bank Secrecy Act. Similarly, companies that invest in Bitcoin don’t need to register either.

A new four-page document published Thursday by the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has further clarified financial rules pertaining to Bitcoin.

In March 2013, FinCEN’s rules stipulated that "a person that creates units of convertible virtual currency and sells those units to another person for real currency or its equivalent is engaged in transmission to another location and is a money transmitter" and is therefore subject to federal regulations.