Mike Imboden is one of the folks making good old-fashioned comics that readers of every generation can appreciate. His defender of Charm City, The Fist of Justice might remind people of a classic stars-and-stripes hero, but Imboden said that legend wasn't "an influence at all." He tells us how The Fist of Justice was created and what makes Marc Mason such a stoic defender of the innocent.

When you think of some of the Faces of Evil in the DCU, Deathstroke has to be in the top ten. The thorn in the New Teen Titans' side has been wreaking havoc in their world for over twenty-five years. He's grown from seeking revenge against those heroes to going up against some of the brightest heroes the DCU has to offer and held his own or bettered most of them. His recent bout with Geo-Force, a hero seeking his own revenge against Deathstroke, left the villain apparently dying in a hospital room. But, Slade Wilson's been down and close to out before. Writer David Hine picks up this Faces of Evil crossover shortly after Last Will and Testament. He told THE PULSE, "This story is about Slade Wilson coming to terms with his own toxic influence on anyone who comes close to him. And he deals with it in his usual uniquely psychotic way."

Jeff Smith's just scratched the tip of the iceberg with his work on the enigmatic, dimension hopper Rasl. What would you do if you could traverse dimensions as easily as walking from one room to the other? Rasl becomes an inter-dimensional thief, procuring priceless items for the highest bidders. This is quite a change from the all-ages romp Smith created in the whimsical Bone series. But, after twelve years working on that series, Smith was ready for a change. Smith told THE PULSE, " ... with RASL I wanted to do something different. Something that feels quick, simple and strong… like a cup of black coffee."

As far as comics are concerned there are a lot of notable ghosts: Casper, The Gentleman Ghost, Boston Brand. There's a new ghost on the block, though, Johnny Boo, and he's trying to be "the best ghost ever." The second volume of the imaginative series, "Twinkle Power," is due in stores this month. Creator James Kochalka considers the egotistical ghost with Boo Power, to be a "stand in for myself and the ego of the artist ..."

Veteran stage and screen star David K. McCallum is lending his voice to not one, but two superhero related projects in the New Year. He's playing Merlin when Batman visits Camelot tonight in Batman: The Brave and the Bold and also voicing the father Greek god, Zeus in the Wonder Woman animated feature. McCallum, who, along with voice acting, also plays Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard in the popular CBS series, NCIS, took some time away from his busy holiday schedule, to answer a few questions about his upcoming magical role.

Brandon Jerwa has carved out quite a place for himself in the Highlander universe. The scribe has penned several tales featuring Connor MacLeod and clan. Now, he's teamed with uber fan Andrew Modeen to chronicle the history of the villainous Kurgan in Highlander Origins: The Kurgan, a two-part miniseries from Dynamite Entertainment. Jerwa told THE PULSE Kurgan is " ... all impulse, like Id gone wild. If he wants it, he takes it, and God help you if you get in his way."

There I was, caught in a memory, back in the late 1960s, standing in the center isle of my local drugstore and gazing with desire at the model kit on the shelf. It was an awesome model: Superman busting through a brick wall. There was a Batman model kit next to it, and it was cool, also; but it was that Superman model I wanted. To make a short story even shorter, I never did get that Superman model kit. The years slide quickly by, and I am, again, back in 2009, January 1. There in front me is not only a model of Superman busting through a brick wall, but a LIFE-SIZE model, complete with real bricks littering the floor! I had just plopped down 12 dollars for admission to a special museum exhibition, Zap! Pow! Bam! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comics Books, 1938-1950 at Cleveland's Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Legendary comic artists Neal Adams and Joe Kubert, and renowned wordsmith Stan Lee, himself – are teaming on an important project that will involve Marvel, Dark Horse, and… a movie? The three have joined to tell a story 65 years in the making – about a Jewish woman forced to paint for the Nazis in order to save hers and her mother from the gas chambers of Auschwitz during WWII. That woman, Dina Gottliebova Babbitt – now 85 – has tried for the last 35 years to secure the return of seven of those portraits to preserve her legacy and the memories of the subjects who were sent to death, but the museum possessing them has steadfastly refused.

Warner Brothers has provided THE PULSE with a question and answer session conducted with Wonder Woman writer Michael Jelenic. This animated version of comics most famous Amazon will be available on March 3.

Pop culture specialist Roz Kaveney takes a look at the men and women in the costumes in her imaginative volume, Superheroes!: Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films. She said her inspiration came from the media at large. Kaveney told THE PULSE, "Specifically, it was the growing tendency of lazy journalists to praise the graphic novel in general by disrespecting the superhero comic as a worthless and outmoded form. It seemed to me that this was pointless - those cultural commentators who have no time for any comics material are not going to be persuaded to accept, say, MAUS as important work by repudiating WATCHMEN."

With his work for with Humanoids, Paul Benjamin had lots of experience with comic books from around the world. That's just one of the things that makes him perfect to work with Marvel Comics on its Soleil line. Benjamin's adapting Valrie Mangin and Aleksa Gaji's popular Scourge of the Gods tale. He told THE PULSE this story is " ... an epic sci-fi story of battle loosely based on the real-life historic conflict between Attila the Hun and Roman general Flavius Aetius."

After putting his spin on Civil War and the X-Files, it seems only natural that Lying in the Gutters' Rich Johnston would write a spoof of the most celebrated graphic novel of all time. In the Watchmensch, Johnston took his idea to parody the Watchmen "with Yiddish references" a step further. Along with talking about his Watchmensch, he weighs in on the whole Watchmen film controversy, why publishers are "afraid of him" and a few other projects he's got on his "to do" list in the New Year.

When you hear the term "Archie Comics," one's mind immediately races to Archie, Jughead, Reggie, Betty and Veronica. Possibly images of Moose and Ethel might come to mind as well as their resident teenage witch, Sabrina, but not a lot of people immediately think of Chuck Clayton, even though he and his girlfriend Nancy were introduced to comic readers in the 1970s. Chuck's a huge comic book fan, struggling to break into the industry as a cartoonist, and he's getting the spotlight in a four-part Archie & Friends story from Fernando Ruiz and Alex Simmons. Both men think it's high time Chuck took center stage and are having a blast shedding light on a character both can relate to easily.