Andrew Wheeler

Wednesday's attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo left twelve people dead, including nine of the magazine's journalists. Five of those journalists were cartoonists. Though the manner of Charlie Hebdo's satire was often of a quality and tone that many would find distasteful, there can be no argument, no pretense, that violence and murder were an appropriate response. Cartoonists, satirists, and commentators have the right to free expression, and should be held accountable for their views in ways that do not threaten their lives or safety. Cartooning has long been one of the most vibrant and incisive forms of public commentary, and that tradition should be celebrated. In that spirit, ComicsAlliance has compiled a collection of some of the responses to the Charlie Hebdo massacre by cartoonists and illustrators; cartoons that acknowledge the tragedy and represent defiance in the face of fear.

My colleagues Dylan and Matt get to trade their recap shows for a crossover this week, with Matt doing Flash and Dylan doing Arrow. I offered to let them do Agents of SHIELD instead -- we'll fake a crossover, we have Photoshop! -- but they demurred. So it's still me, folks. This show may be better than it was last year, but 'better' is a relative term, and the stink of a toxic reputation is tough to shake. But with the Agents of SHIELD winter final just a week away -- and the show going on hiatus until about March to make way for Agent Carter -- the show is actually edging ever closer to actual revelations, with one nerd name-bomb dropped this episode, and Mack finally given something to do! Which turns out to be both good news and bad. 'Ye Who Enter Here' was directed by Billy Gierhart and written by Paul Zbyszewski

When ComicsAlliance first heard that Gilbert Hernandez would write and draw a Wonder Woman story for DC's digital first Sensation Comics series, we were excited to see what the master Love & Rockets illustrator would would do with the character. We also assumed he'd be the author of the story about Wonder Woman as a rock star. Anyone following Sensation Comics now knows that the rock star story was Margeurite Sauvage's excellent work, while Hernandez spun a tale about a brainwashed Diana going toe-to-toe with fellow heroes Supergirl and Mary Marvel. The first half of his two-parter, "No Chains Can Hold Her," is already available. DC sent us this exclusive preview of part two, available this Thursday.

For anyone who remembers the days when just one Spider-Man movie seemed an impossible dream, the above infographic is an astonishing representation of how comic book superheroes now dominate popular entertainment. ComicsAlliance’s own graphics maestro Dylan Todd put together this timeline that reveals what the next six years of superhero movies look like, with some dates and titles still to be announced. The graphic will be updated as new information is released.

Finally. At a special live event at Disney's El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California, on Tuesday, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige outlined plans for the third phase of the studio's output, with dates confirmed for a Black Panther movie in 2017, starring Chadwick Boseman; Captain Marvel and Inhumans movies in 2018, and a two-part Avengers: Infinity War movie spanning 2018 and 2019. The studio also confirmed and shuffled some of its other releases, slotting Doctor Strange, the unnamed Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, and the third Thor movie -- now titled Thor: Ragnarok -- into its calendar; and it unveiled the title for the third Captain America movie; Civil War. If this is all a bit much to take in, go get a cup of tea and come back in a minute.

A great comic book cover is an advertisement, a work of art, a statement, and an invitation. A great comic book cover is a glimpse of another world through a canvas no bigger than a window pane. In Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month), we look back over some of the most eye-catching, original and exceptional covers of the past month. September's covers include masterclass composition from Genndy Tarkakovsky and Noelle Stevenson, some beautiful uses of light, color, and contrast, and some very different portraits of gods, old and new.

It's Celebrate Bisexuality Day today, also called Bisexual Visibility Day -- a day to celebrate and promote recognition of those who are sexually attracted to people of more than one gender. The day exists because people with non-monosexual queer identities face unusual challenges in being recognized by both mainstream and queer cultures, yet visibility helps break down barriers and encourage acceptance. In superhero comics, the problem of bisexual invisibility is as ingrained as anywhere; the medium struggles to acknowledge the existence of anything that didn't exist in The Honeymooners or The Andy Griffith Show, unless it's a space god, a shapeshifter, or a parasitic psychic monster. Having a character say, "I'm bisexual" is apparently more implausible than any of those things. There are signs that the industry is changing in this regard -- but slowly, and rather half-heartedly.

  Monica Rambeau is on her fourth superhero codename. In the pages of Mighty Avengers she's Spectrum, having previously gone by Captain Marvel, Photon and Pulsar. The Captain Marvel identity now belongs to Carol Danvers, also on her fourth codename after Ms. Marvel, Binary and Warbird. Her first codename now belongs to Kamala Khan, the fourth Ms. Marvel after Danvers, Sharon Ventura and Karla Sofe