John Hodgman writes intelligently about comics for the New York Times—and he’s not even BSing this time.

Please allow me to gush for just a moment, and witness a brief glimpse at just how big a nerd I am.

For years now I have been complaining that Spider-man deserves better video games, and we have the technology. Such a game needs Grand Theft Auto-style roaming capabilities, and a feeling like you’re actually making a difference in the environment. (I also thought it would be neat if you were framed for a crime and had to do some wall-clinging stealth action scenes to find evidence to prove your innocence, but my friends assure me that Spider-man is only fun to play when he is swinging, jumping, and punching.)

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Joshua Glenn, writing at the Boston Globe, tries to solve the age-old dilemma: was Black Sabbath’s classic heavy metal song “Iron Man” inspired by the Marvel superhero of the same name? The conclusion is a qualified “yes,” though it suggests that Ted Hughes’s book The Iron Man, upon which the 1999 animated film, The Iron Giant was based. Glenn’s piece is worth a read, however, if for no other reason than to watch the opening theme song to the 1960s Iron Man cartoon. I’ll be walking around the rest of the day, humming “Tony Stark makes you feel/he’s a cool exec with a heart of steel.”

Brian Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series has been one of my favorite comics of recent years. The story of a Canadian slacker who must battle the league of ex-boyfriends of his true love is packed with so much joy, zannieness, and oddball video game references that each volume has been a treat to read.

Today’s news from the Hollywood Reporter (via Jeremy) is that a movie based on the series is moving forward with Edgar Wright (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) attached to direct and Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Superbad, Juno) to pay the title character.

Seem like a fun match up, though it will be interesting to see how much of Brian Lee O’Malley’s story will make the transition to movie and to something marketable to mainstream audiences. In the meantime fans of Michael Cera should make sure to check out his web series Clark and Michael.

I forget where I saw this link (Boing Boing? Geekadelphia?), but check out the weird low-brow art in this tribute to Stan Lee. There’s some neat stuff in there. (Oh, I think I got it from io9, the new SF blog, which has some photos of the gallery itself.)

I’m not reproducing a spam email verbatim today, but rather directing you to Tom Manning’s comics based on spam messages. Worth checking out the slideshow.

This Halloween, I dressed up as Peter Parker, Spider-man’s secret identity. This is admittedly a pretty half-assed costume. All I did was buy a Spider-man t-shirt and wear it under a half-buttoned white shirt (yes, with pants etc.). I reused the plastic reading glasses frames purchased for my astonishingly similar costume from last year, when I went to a costume party as Clark Kent. This costume was even easier than the last one, as Peter Parker is less known for wearing suits, being more of a casual sort of guy.

I did hit one hitch, though: I have a beard, and Peter Parker does not. I had planned to shave my beard for a more authentic Pete, but when the day finally came, I was much too busy, sorely lacking in shaving cream, and wondering if it would grow back in time for the conference I’m attending in a couple weeks. I decided to just leave it be and continue on with my day.

Fortunately, the Marvel Universe has got me covered. I figured that sometime in the last 40+ years, Parker must have grown a beard, right? So I googled around and, well, no, it looks like he hasn’t—except for in alternate realities! Thank goodness there’s a parallel universe out there somewhere where all the Avengers have beards. Nobody really called me on it anyway, though.

Webcartoonist Shaenon Garrity asks: What if Edward Gorey had adapted “The Trouble With Tribbles”?

Just got to Paris. Haven’t had much chance to explore, but the room I’m sharing with Mike is tiny but with a neat window—tall frame, wrought-iron grate, long flower pot, and no screen, just like in the movies.

Also Keith sends along a link to some bad comics by Nedroid. Of course, they are hilarious bad comics, especially when read many at a time. I laughed out loud at #21, and then felt kind of bad about it because it really is quite stupid, while #22 is in fact quite good.

Just came across a link noting that Marvel’s working on a Captain America movie with a script by David Self (who also did the screenplay for a more self-contained comic adaptation, Road to Perdition). Marvel Comics’ President of Production Kevin Feige is quoted as saying:

“The good news is Marvel is perceived pretty well around the world right now and I think putting another uber Marvel hero into the worldwide box office will be a good thing.”

Uh, and the bad news is that America’s not perceived quite as well worldwide, and we’re talking about a dude literally wrapped in the damn flag. (Side note: if Captain America gets caught on fire in the line of duty, does anyone involved take flak for flag burning?) Feige continues:

“The script that David Self is writing, the director that we end up hiring, and certainly we’re going into it with our eyes open and these are all things that we have to deal with much the same way that Captain America when thawed from the Arctic Ice entered a world he didn’t recognize and had to deal with changes… whether it was when Stan did it in the early 60s and that world that Steve Rogers was coming into or the world of 2009.”

Come on. The dude is dressed in a freaking flag, funny-looking boots, funny little wing-ear thingies, and so on. There is no way this will not look totally stupid—unless they stick it in the ’40s and let us watch him punch Hitler and battle Nazi tigers. That could be cool.