This weekend is San Diego Comic-Con, probably the biggest annual event for comic book fans–and since the Con has begun branching out to tv shows and movies, for popular culture in general. In fact, it’s become so popular to premiere big things at the show that this year’s lucky fans will get to see new footage from the upcoming Hobbit movie, as well as next year’s Superman reboot and the new Twilight movie (a franchise that I am relieved is ending, so I don’t have to read any more news articles about it!).  Plus everyone will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of my favorite comic, Love and Rockets.  All sorts of news will be coming out at the Con, so expect new trailers, clips, and other stuff next week!

But for this week, let me tell you about two Archie-related stories that came out. (I don’t know why I find Archie Comics so fascinating, and I apologize if you don’t.) Archie is still attempting to keep itself relevant to current audiences with a Glee crossover, featuring Rachel, Finn, and other characters I don’t really know anything about. That’s fine and dandy, but let me tell you about the second story, which I am legitimately excited about: Archie makeup!! Yes, Archie is teaming up with the awesome MAC Cosmetics for a line called Archie’s Girls and I can’t wait to see the results. I want to support Betty, but you know Veronica’s stuff is going to be way cooler!

Another cool recent news item involves digital comics, specifically a new endeavor called Monkeybrain Comics. Now, I admit to being a huge fan of e-books (and frankly resent reading print books now, as I would much rather use my Kindle) but haven’t really gotten on the digital comics train yet. Partially that’s because I want to support local comic book stores (as should everyone!), and partially because I don’t have a great device for digital comics (I’m sure they’d look terrible on my Kindle screen and my iPod Touch screen is just too tiny).

But Monkeybrain is pretty cool—one of the people behind it is Chris Roberson, whose work I love (I’ve mentioned the Fables spin-off Cinderella, and he also writes IZombie, which is unfortunately coming to an end in the near future. Anywya, they’ve launched a whole new line of independent digital comics, with five titles ranging in price from 99 cents to $1.99. The AV Club has some great coverage here, and let me echo the accolades for Bandette, which has an entertaining story and absolutely adorable art by Colleen Coover. The 99 cents issues are shorter, and at such a low price point are a great way to test out digital comics for yourself (like I said, I loved Bandette, but like I also said, the screen on the iPod Touch is just a smidge too small for a completely satisfying reading experience. But your mileage may vary.)