Like this. I can't say I totally understand what's going on in this video, but it involves a man dramatically inflating a latex Superman suit to what I will call Staypuff Marshmallow Man proportions. It's not an anomaly, either; his entire youtube channel is named "lovetoinflate" and also includes an inflation of a Batman costume. May we suggest Bouncing Boy for his next act, or would that be redundant? Check out the videos after the jump! [Via Topless Robot]

Last night saw the close of the online auction for the check that bought Superman from creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, having attracted more than 50 bids for a unique piece of comic book history before finally selling for more than a thousand times the original value of the Man of Steel.

If you've ever had a bad experience selling something on eBay, here's something to make you feel a little bit better about how things turned out for you: Chances are, you didn't find yourself potentially scammed out of a first edition X-Men #1 from 1963 after your buyer cancelled payment after delivery of the comic.

In the words of Michael Sorrentino himself, "Super hero Sitch coming soon!!" Thanks to a new deal with Wizard World Inc., "The Situation" is going to star in his own superhero comic. The deal not only taps the fist-pumping, GTL-ing, star dancing TV personality of Jersey Shore fame, but also his brothers Marc and Frank, sister Melissa and mother Linda. Full plot details are still unclear as no official creative teams have been announced, but Wizard's official press release says that the comic will be written and drawn by some of the industry's "leading artists and writers." Whatever storyline gets worked out (we're assuming "The Situation" will have powers beyond showing people his abs), Wizard World show attendees can expect to see a whole slew of Sorrentino family members making appearances at upcoming shows. Could this inspire Super Situation cosplay?

Topatoco, the fine purveyor of webcomic-related t-shirts, books, and other tomfoolery, has announced their spring book release schedule exclusively to ComicsAlliance, and it is chock full of excellence. The most notable new edition is Three Word Phrase, a hilarious webcomic by Ryan Pequin recently featured here on ComicsAlliance, along with Three Panel Soul, and new releases from old favorites like Dinosaur Comics, a softer world, and MS Paint Adventures. The books will launch at the TCAF festival in Toronto this May, and we've got information and multi-page previews for each of the books, so read on!

Reading Comics author Douglas Wolk runs down the hottest comics and graphic novels coming out this week.

KEY:
* Arms and armor
^ Crusty Bunkers
% The world before us

* % 3 STORY: SECRET FILES OF THE GIANT MAN
This is the ramp-up for the Era of Matt Kindt Doing a Whole Lot: a saddle-stitched collection of three brief sequels (which originally appeared online) to his 2009 graphic novel about a giant secret agent. Next month, his new ongoing series Mind MGMT launches, and he'll be writing Frankenstein at DC starting in June. Kindt likes his secret-agent stories.

* % AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS VOL. 2
A $100 hardcover collecting the first few years' worth of the Stan Lee/John Romita period: #39-67, plus Annuals #3-5, the two issues of the Spectacular Spider-Man magazine, and a set of Not Brand Ecch stories. I love that Romita didn't really bother to try to make a subtle transition from the Steve Ditko period--he just whisked straight off in his own direction, "tiger/jackpot" and all.

Each year when the Eisner Award nominations are announced, I rush to my computer to see who was nominated for the Best Digital Comic category. Just like fans of print comics, I have my favorites: creators who really rocked this year; workhorses who have turned out solid comics every week for years; innovators who are doing exciting new things with the format.

But each year, I find that I'm inevitably disappointed. It's not that the nominees aren't good; they're usually great, in fact. It's just that they don't really encapsulate the rich landscape of webcomics. Sometimes the Eisner committee honors digital comics that I'd hesitate to call webcomics at all. The problem is that the definition of digital comics is just too wide for one tiny category to contain them. If the Eisner panel truly wants to honor the diversity and innovation of webcomics, it's time for them to offer more digital categories.

In our recurring feature, ComicsAlliance brings you the best comic book adventures that do not, could not, and sometimes should not exist: Great Comics That Never Happened! This week, Chris Sims and the amazing artist Kerry Callen bring you the greatest team-up of all: Batman and Jay-Z!


Read more to find out what sinister force brings Hova and the Caped Crusader together for the greatest adventure of them all in... "The 99 Problems!"

Although cosplay has been present for decades within the comics, anime, and sci-fi/fantasy fandoms, social media has played an integral role in the thriving community of costuming that exists today and cosplay communities such as Cosplay.com and the Superhero Costuming Forum. In honor of the many fans who've displayed excellence in the mastery of homemade disguise, craftsmanship, and sartorial superheroics, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), a weekly collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we've discovered and assembled into our own super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent.

Having taken a look at July's single-issue releases from Marvel and Icon, it's time to check out what for many readers is the main event of any comic book shipping schedule: the collected editions and graphic novels, which compile and usually complete comics stories initially serialized monthly in 20-page pamphlet-style comics you totally can't put on a shelf. Below you will find the cover artwork and hype copy for new trade paperbacks, hardcovers and omnibuses coming from Marvel Comics and Icon in June including the long awaited Criminal: The Deluxe Edition Volume 2 by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips, not to mention new volumes of Powers and Casanova plus the original graphic novel Hulk: Season One by Fred Van Lente and Tom Fowler.

Last year, ComicsAlliance's Chris Sims and David Uzumeri watched and reviewed every episode of the tenth and final season of Smallville, the long-running show that chronicled Superman's origin from high school student to the world's greatest super-hero. Or at least, that was the idea. After the final episode, our team of Smallvillains thought they were done with the series forever, but now that DC has launched a digital-first comic that continues the series with "Season 11," we're back to take another look.

Somebody save us.

Adventure Time fans, prepare for a double dose of monthly comics. Joining Boom! Studios' regular monthly AT comic in July is an all-new spinoff series, Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens. Written and illustrated by Octopus Pie creator Meredith Gran, the new series will follow Marceline the Vampire Queen as she rocks the Land of Ooo with Princess Bubblegum. In addition to the main story by Gran, Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens #1 will feature a backup story by Jen Wang (Koko Be Good). To top it all off, the series' first issue will feature variant covers by JAB, Chynna Clugston (Blue Monday), Lucy Knisley (Stop Paying Attention, AT #2), Ming Doyle (Womanthology, Fantastic Four) and Colleen Coover (Gingerbread Girl). Check out full images of all five covers after the cut.