Comic Book Resources

Just say no Kal-el: A review of 'Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'

Seriously, look at those necks

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a new direct-to-DVD film set in an alternate DC universe where everybody takes ungodly amounts of steroids.

Seriously, that's the only conclusion I can come to as to why every single character in this movie, even the civilians, has a neck -- when they have a neck at all -- that's wider than their goddamned skull. Seriously, their heads look like they've been bolted on. And that's to say nothing of the endless oceans of muscles that ripple across everyone's bodies. The entire planet is obviously juiced to the max.

But the display of over the top physiques really shouldn't surprise me. At it's heart, Public Enemies is your typical uber-macho buddy action movie, and just as dumb and sexist as most of them to boot. It's the comic nerd's version of Tango and Cash.

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Blackest Night #2

Publishing | Direct-market comics sales grew in August for the third consecutive month, thanks to price increases. According to ICv2.com estimates, piece sales actually declined 1 percent from August 2008. Sales of the Top 100 graphic novels fell 16 percent, largely due to the performance of Watchmen, whose numbers sky-rocketed around this time last year.

Events and crossovers again dominated the top of the comics chart, led by DC's Blackest Night #2 with about 146,000 copies -- slipping just 18 percent from the miniseries' debut. Marvel's relaunched Ultimate Comics imprint premiered fairly strong, with Ultimate Comics Avengers #1 charting at No. 5 (95,000), followed by Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 at No. 11 (86,000).

The 10th volume of Image Comics' The Walking Dead led the graphic-novel chart with more than 15,000 copies, followed by Vertigo's Fables, Vol. 12, with more than 12,000. [ICv2.com]

Business | Tom Spurgeon presents his lengthy, and well-worth-reading, thoughts on Disney's proposed purchase of Marvel and the restructuring of Warner Bros./DC Entertainment, how we process and report those two major industry events, and even who might be offered the job of publisher of DC Comics. Rich Johnston, meanwhile, lays out odds on that last part. [The Comics Reporter, Bleeding Cool]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

All-American Mickey

Business | Ted Anthony takes an interesting approach to the proposed purchase of Marvel by Disney, viewing the merger as a wedding of "two of the dominant sets of myths that inform modern America."

"It's almost as if, decades ago, they made these decisions about America," says historian John Baick. "And one decided that America stops in the 1950s and the other decides that America plunges into a dark, chaotic future." [The Associated Press]

Business | Disney reportedly is in talks with Indian publisher Vimanika Comics to develop some of its characters, based on Hindu mythology, to television and film. [Times Online]

Business | Matt Maxwell wonders whether the Warner Bros./DC Entertainment restructuring could lead the company to buy Diamond Comic Distributors before its option runs out in 2011. [Comics Waiting Room]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Marvel

Legal | New York City-based law firm Levi & Korsinsky on Friday filed a class-action lawsuit challenging Disney's $4-billion purchase of Marvel Entertainment. Like the earlier lawsuit filed by Marvel shareholder Christine Vlatos, this one claims the proposed transaction undervalues Marvel's stock. [press release]

Business | DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson continues her interview tour, assuring retailer-oriented website ICv2.com "we’re going to be looking for a real publisher" to succeed Paul Levitz as head of DC Comics: "This is not about replacing someone with a cyborg unit that will answer to me. We want a publishing expert."

At MTV's movie-focused Splash Page, Nelson highlights DC's Vertigo imprint as "an area of great interest" that "could potentially offer amazing stories for our future television video game, digital and consumer products businesses." [ICV2.com, Splash Page]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

D23 Expo

Business | During a surprise appearance Thursday at the D23 Expo, Walt Disney Company President and CEO Bob Iger assured reporters that, "There will be no Disney-fication of Marvel."

"When you look at it as part of the Walt Disney Company and the application, the presence of Marvel is virtually in everything that we’re in," Iger said at the presentation. "You can expect that, over time, that’s what you will see. We became impressed with the talent of Marvel as we got to know them better. Once the the deal closes their is expected integration, but we plan to keep Marvel as an entity and and to respect both the talent that is there, working as one and also respect what Marvel is and what the essence of Marvel is. There will be no Disney-fication of Marvel." [ScreenCrave]

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Business | I overlooked this nugget when I was assembling our overview of the new DC Entertainment: Batman: Arkham Asylum, the new video game from Warner Bros. Interactive and Eidos Interactive, has sold a reported 2 million copies since its release on Aug. 25. [Los Angeles Times]

Conventions | Deb Aoki has commentary on Thursday's confirmation that Reed Exhibitions will "co-locate" next year's New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival. That means the two events will be held at the same time -- Oct. 8-10, 2010 -- and share exhibition space in the Javits Center while maintaining separate programming and guest lists. "With a tight economy to contend with," Aoki writes, "Reed Exhibitions has likely figured out that combining New York Anime Festival with New York Comic-Con might make it more appealing for more publishers, game and anime companies to put some of their marketing budget toward exhibiting at next year's shows." [About.com]

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DC Entertainment: What we know so far

DC Comics

Now that some of the dust has settled on yesterday's big Warner Bros. announcement -- press releases have been issued, top executives have been interviewed -- we can at least begin to get a picture of the new DC Entertainment.

Here's what we can piece together so far:

• DC Entertainment is essentially a new company under the Warner Bros. Entertainment umbrella designed to more effectively and aggressively make use of  -- or "exploit," if you will -- the DC Comics characters in television, movies and other media. That's long been viewed as a weak point in the DC-Warner Bros. relationship.

• This new company will be headed by Diane Nelson, who's been president of Warner Premiere since the direct-to-DVD division of Warner Home Video was established in August 2006. A graduate of Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Communications, Nelson was director of national promotions for Walt Disney Records before joining Warner Bros. in 1996. She's perhaps best known for supervising the management of the lucrative Harry Potter movie franchise since 1999.

In addition to her duties as president of DC Entertainment, Nelson will continue to oversee Warner Premiere and the studio's interests in Harry Potter. She'll report to Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Picture Group. (As president and publisher of DC Comics, Paul Levitz reported to Alan Horn, president and COO of Warner Bros. Entertainment.)

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

DC Comics

Business | It should come as no surprise that the creation by Warner Bros. of DC Entertainment, and the resignation of Paul Levitz as president and publisher, dominates the news again this morning.

I'll devote a separate post to that coverage, but there are a few links worth highlighting here: ICv2.com has a succinct timeline of Levitz's career to date plus earlier comments by the industry veteran about having "one of the best jobs on the planet." Kurt Busiek, Marv Wolfman and Rich Johnston offer solid tributes to Levitz and his accomplishments as head of DC Comics. And at Comic Book Resources, Kiel Phegley gathers reactions from industry figures. [Warner Bros. press release]

Legal | DC Comics is among the parties objecting to Google Inc.'s settlement with publishers designed to resolve a 2005 lawsuit accusing the Internet giant of infringing on copyrights by digitizing out-of-print books without permission. DC, Microsoft and the governments of France and Germany are among those who say the agreement -- $125 million and a registry to identify and compensate copyright holders -- violates international copyright law. [Bloomberg]

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DC Comics becomes DC Entertainment; Nelson replaces Levitz as president

DC Comics

Warner Bros. moments ago ended a rumor-filled morning with the official announcement that DC Comics will become DC Entertainment, headed by division president Diane Nelson.

Paul Levitz will resign as president and publisher of DC Comics, a position he's held since 2002, "to return to his roots as a writer for DC and become a contributing editor and overall consultant to DCE."

Nelson, former president of Warner Premiere, will report to Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group. (Levitz had reported to Alan Horn, president and COO of Warner Bros. Entertainment.) Nelson will continue to oversee Warner Home Video's direct-to-DVD arm, and supervise the management of the lucrative Harry Potter film franchise.

The restructuring will position DC Entertainment as a separate division of Warner Bros. Entertainment "charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses."

According to the press release: "DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the Studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products. The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry."

Developing, obviously ...

Report: Warner Bros. to announce DC Comics restructuring [Updated]

DC Comics

Nikki Finke reports an announcement is expected, possibly as soon as today, that Warner Bros. will restructure DC Comics, moving in two top Warner executives to oversee the division.

The reshuffling, whose rumors were reported two weeks ago by Rich Johnston, would have DC President and Publisher Paul Levitz reporting to Warner Bros. Picture Group President Jeff Robinov and Warner Premiere President Diane Nelson. Currently Levitz reports directly to Alan Horn, president and COO of Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Update [9:48 a.m.]: Finke and Johnston both now say they're told by DC Comics "insiders" that Levitz is expected to step down as president and publisher. Levitz has worked for DC for 35 years, becoming president in 2002.

Finke also reports that Robinov has "called back" several in-development movie projects, like The Flash and Wonder Woman, as part of a strategy "to severely limit the number of gross participants on the projects." Producers reportedly could get some of the titles back under deals that would better benefit Warner Bros.

Nelson has headed Warner Home Video's direct-to-DVD division since it was established in August 2006, during which time Warner Premiere produced DC Universe Original Animated Movies such as Batman: Gotham Knight, Justice League: The New Frontier and Superman: Doomsday. Before that Nelson was executive vice president of domestic marketing for Warner Bros. Pictures.

Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Krypton explodes

Legal | Marc Graser breaks down what aspects of Superman are now controlled by the heirs of co-creator Jerry Siegel after Wednesday's court ruling: depictions of "Superman's origins from the planet Krypton, his parents Jor-El and Lora, Superman as the infant Kal-El, the launching of the infant Superman into space by his parents as Krypton explodes and his landing on Earth in a fiery crash." In 2013, the estate of Joe Shuster will become co-owners of the copyright to Action Comics #1 and the newly recaptured early works.

Warner Bros. and DC Comics, which still own later additions to Superman's mythos -- flight and other superpowers, kryptonite, Lex Luthor, Jimmy Olsen, etc. -- issued a statement characterizing the decision as affirmation that "the vast majority of key elements" developed after Action Comics #1 remain the property of DC. [Variety]

The Muppet Show #1

Publishing | Wired.com's Andrew Kardon profiles BOOM! Studios' kids' imprint, which features Disney/Pixar comics and, soon, the Disney Standards line. [GeekDad]

Creators | Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Matt Davies talks about being laid off by the Westchester, N.Y., Journal-News after 17 years with the newspaper: "I was told a few months back by my editor that my position was valued, so I didn’t expect this. I’m not stupid, the business model is in dire straits for all newspapers, we all know that. It’s weird. Before there was a focus on the content; management was cognizant of the need for content, but this time it was all about the numbers, so my position was cut." [The Daily Cartoonist]

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SDCC '09 | Warner Bros. confirms DC Universe animated shorts

Jonah Hex

Perhaps the most interesting news out of Friday's "DC Universe Animated Super Powers" panel is confirmation that Warner Bros. is developing animated shorts based on DC Comics characters.

A Jonah Hex short written by Joe R. Lansdale will be among the the initial series of shorts. However, Gregory Noveck, DC Comics senior vice president of creative affairs, wouldn't offer further details.

Rumors about the project began circulating earlier this month. According to Comics Continuum sources, the shorts are being produced for inclusion with DC Universe Animated direct-to-DVD features. "It's likely the shorts will then be put together for a compilation DVD, which might also include new material," the website reported.

A comics writer and award-winning author of Western, horror and mystery novels, Lansdale has a long association with the character. With frequent artistic collaborator Tim Truman, he's three Jonah Hex miniseries, dating back to 1993: Two-Gun Mojo, Riders of the Worm and Such, and Shadows West.

Lansdale also wrote for Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures.

SDCC '09 | Tom Welling to appear on panel (but what's this about a suit?)

Tom Welling

Smallville star Tom Welling will make his first-ever appearance at Comic-Con, fanning rumors that the actor will debut a new, cape-less Superman costume at the show's Sunday panel.

According to EW.com's Michael Ausiello, this will be the first time the entire cast has assembled for the convention.

The news adds a new wrinkle to online rumors that Warner Bros. representatives have been randomly selecting Comic-Con attendees to view a redesigned Superman costume destined to debut in the Season 9 premiere.

However, a source close to the series told Robot 6 that they knew nothing about a suit being shown.

AICN reported speculation in June that The CW is planning a Smallville television movie for Christmas 2010 titled Metropolis, which also might explain Welling's appearance on the panel.

The Smallville panel will be at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

SDCC '09 | Day One

Comic-Con

After a bevy of announcements earlier in the week about movie deals and video-game adaptations, Comic-Con International officially kicked off Thursday with news of the hiring of an industry veteran, and three significant book acquisitions.

IDW Publishing revealed that Bob Schreck, a longtime senior group editor at DC Comics, will join the company as senior editor in October. He'll focus on developing new projects and new talent.

An editor at Comico and Dark Horse, Schreck co-founded Oni Press with Joe Nozemack in 1996. Three years later he joined DC Comics, where he oversaw the Batman line and, eventually, edited the All-Star titles and developed new projects for Vertigo. He was laid off in January during a wave of major cutbacks by Warner Bros.

Day One's major publishing news came from Scholastic, Drawn & Quarterly and Dark Horse.

Scholastic announced that Jeff Smith will release new Bone titles with co-writer Tom Sniegoski, beginning in summer 2010 with Bone: Tall Tales. The fall will see the expansion of the Bone world with the first book in the Quest for the Spark trilogy, overseen and illustrated by Smith and written by Sniegoski.

Drawn & Quarterly acquired the rights to Daniel Clowes' new graphic novel Wilson, the cartoonist’s first book not to be originally serialized in Eightball. The title, described as a "portrait of the modern egoist,” will debut in May 2010.

Dark Horse, meanwhile, rolled out an overview of its convention announcements, which include plans to release all three volumes of the popular European noir series Blacksad.

In other Thursday highlights:

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SDCC '09 | Warner Bros. unveils next wave of motion comics

Superman: Red Son

Warner Premiere and Warner Digital Distribution today announced the next three titles in the Warner Premiere Motion Comics line: Superman: Red Son, Batgirl: Year One, and Batman: Black and White Collection 2.

For a limited time, the first episode of Red Son is available for free download from the iTunes Store.

Motion comics blend sequential art with limited animation, adding voiceovers and a musical score.

Superman: Red Son is the Eisner Award-winning 2003 Elseworlds miniseries by Mark Millar and Dave Johnson that imagines what might've happened had the Man of Steel been raised in the Soviet Union.

In 2003's Batgirl: Year One, writers Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon and artists Alvaro Lopez and Marcos Martin retold Barbara Gordon's origin as Batgirl.

Batman: Black & White Collection 2 features short stories by such creators as John Arcudi, Ed Brubaker, John Buscema, Howard Chaykin, Archie Goodwin, Sean Phillips, Walter Simonson, Ryan Sook and Danijel Zezelj.

All three titles are now available on iTunes.

SDCC '09 | Jonah Hex movie poster debuts

"Jonah Hex" Comic-Con poster

This morning we got a peek at the Comic-Con banners for the Jonah Hex film, and now Yahoo! Movies delivers the teaser poster.

The Warner Bros. production, which stars Josh Brolin and Megan Fox, is set to open in August 2010.