While it seemed DC Comics couldn’t wait to get rid of Superman’s trademark trunks, in Malaysia those underpants are still red-hot.

According to New Straits Times, a suburb of Johor Bahru has been overtaken by fliers advertising “Superman’s Underpants,” billed as a cure for male sexual problems — and the residents have had enough.

“For me this could cause a bad influence among the community,” one retiree tells the newspaper. “Superman fans, especially the men, could be duped into spending thousands of ringgit to buy the product with the assumption that they could gain special powers by wearing them.” He goes on to point out that the product claims to enhance sexual abilities, and has nothing to do with Superman — who we’re pretty sure has that area covered.

So what do Superman’s Underpants actually do? Well, they’re equipped with magnets, and are alleged to cure impotency and enhance penis size. According to the product website, there’s also something called an ego ring, which is … pretty much what you imagine it is (and has nothing to do with Green Lantern).

They sell for between $114 and $294, which leads me to think Warner Bros. is missing out on a lucrative market for penis-enhancing magnetic underwear.

(via io9.com)

With so much being reported about Alan Moore’s connections to the Occupy movement — through his endorsement of its ideals, his contribution to Occupy Comics, and protesters’ co-opting of the David Lloyd-designed Guy Fawkes masks — U.K.’s Channel 4 News coaxed the V for Vendetta writer from his home in Northampton to London to meet some of the demonstrators for the first time.

“It’s a bit surprising when some of the characters you thought you made up suddenly seem to escape into ordinary reality,” Moore told some disguised protesters. “I mean, what is it about the mask — is it just useful, or what?”

The report also delves into Frank Miller’s criticism of the Occupy movement, Moore’s displeasure with film adaptations of his works and, yes, the irony that each Guy Fawkes mask that protesters buy puts more money into the coffers of Time Warner, one of the world’s largest media conglomerates.

Emmy nominee Steve Buscemi has played a corrupt politician on Boardwalk Empire, a small-time crook in Fargo, a naive bowler in The Big Lebowski, and an offbeat private investigator on 30 Rock. Now add to that Gotham City police commissioner.

Hosting Saturday Night Live over the weekend, Buscemi starred as James Gordon opposite Andy Samberg’s Batman in a digital short about a lurky Caped Crusader with serious boundary issues. Check out the video, complete with a cameo by Aquaman, below.

As someone who spent a significant portion of his childhood in superhero Underoos, I can appreciate the sentiment behind these new DC Comics-branded boxerbriefs from Diesel and Warner Bros. — even if I can’t envision myself, as an adult (lacking the body of an underwear model), wearing them. Or, y’know, shelling out $34 for the pleasure.

However, if you’re itching to sport the logos of Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash and The Joker above your cotton- and elastane-clad buttcheeks — or to see someone else do the same — then these are for you.

There’s probably a “stocking stuffer” joke to be made — also, “The Fastest Man Alive” — but I’ll do my best to resist. Alas, the folks at Diesel apparently don’t have that level of restraint, as the (let’s hope intentionally) hilarious promo video for the underwear drops the phrases “heroes will rise” and “show ‘em what you’ve got.” You can check it out below.

(via DC Women Kicking Ass)

The studio filed a 65-page complaint in May 2010 accusing Marc Toberoff, its longtime legal nemesis, of orchestrating “a web of collusive agreements” that led the Siegel family to reject “mutually beneficial” longtime deals with DC Comics and seek to recapture copyright to the Man of Steel. The lawsuit, which hinges on documents stolen from Toberoff’s office and delivered anonymously to Warner Bros., is designed to force him to resign as the lawyer for the Siegels, who in 2008 successfully terminated the original 1938 transfer of copyright for Action Comics #1. The window will open in 2013 for Shuster’s estate to do the same.

Toberoff filed a motion in August 2010 to dismiss the studio’s complaint under California anti-SLAPP laws designed to curb lawsuits intended to intimidate the opposition through delays and legal expense.

However, U.S. District Judge Otis Wright ruled Toberoff had failed to demonstrate that his role as attorney for the Siegel and Shuster heirs is protected under the California statutes. Wright specifically cited a business deal Toberoff struck with the Shuster estate that he characterized as “not an agreement for the provision of legal services, but one concerning the exploitation of Joe Shuster’s creations.” That’s presumably a reference to an arrangement that Warner Bros. charged would give Toberoff and his companies “a controlling financial interest in the families’ collective claims — leaving him as the largest financial stakeholder” in the Man of Steel.

Toberoff insisted in court filings that he hadn’t consulted with the Siegels, and had yet to even meet them, when they dropped their previous attorneys and formally called off negotiations with DC Comics in September 2002. He said that while two of his companies, IP Worldwide and Pacific Pictures, had agreements with the heirs, those have either expired or been terminated.

According to Variety, Wright also ruled that Toberoff must turn over a letter from Siegel’s daughter, Laura Siegel Larson, to her half-brother Michael, which Warner Bros. contends will support its claims that the attorney “tortiously interfered” in settlement talks.

The letter presumably was in response to the one written by Michael Siegel in May 2003 warning Laura not to become involved with Toberoff, whom he described as a “mysterious billionaire” plotting with Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel to gain control of Superman for themselves. (Michael’s letter was among the papers stolen from Toberoff’s office). Although never close with his father, Michael still has a financial stake in the outcome of the case. Toberoff allegedly had attempted to involve Michael in the effort to reclaim the copyrights but was rejected.

Jim Lee

In the nearly two weeks since Barnes & Noble drew a line in the sand, pulling 100 of DC Comics’ top-selling graphic novels from its shelves to protest the publisher’s exclusive agreement with Amazon’s new Kindle Fire, there’s been little visible change in the tablet wars. That is, unless you count the decision by Books-A-Million to follow the chain’s lead.

Both sides appear to have dug in, with Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million insisting that books be available in all formats to all customers — specifically, their customers and their e-reader — and DC and parent company Warner Bros. insisting they’re misunderstood, and more than a little disappointed.

There are hints, however, that behind the scenes things may be a bit less … concrete.

Although there’s been some indication that DC’s exclusive arrangement with Amazon will last just four months, meaning graphic novels like Watchmen, Fables, Y: The Last Man and The Sandman could be available digitally for other platforms by mid-March, the publisher has yet to say so, much to the frustration of some fans (and, I would imagine, certain retailers).

In its overview of the dispute, The New York Times notes the DC website trumpets the books are available “exclusively to Amazon’s newly announced Kindle Fire,” period. No qualifiers. But comments for DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee lend credence to reports that the Amazon exclusivity is for a limited time.

Although he cited a nondisclosure agreement with the online retail giant, Lee still told the newspaper that, “Just because we’re starting with Amazon, this is not the be-all and end-all of our digital strategy and distribution.”

And to DC readers frustrated by the deal? “We say to our fans, have a little patience.”

That Warner Bros. is looking to develop more DC properties for its rapidly expanding games division is no secret — a new studio in Montreal is being set up specifically for that task. But what could this mysterious title be?

Kotaku notes that while a Superman game may be the obvious guess, given the release of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in June 2013, it hardly requires a veil of secrecy. After all, movie tie-ins are par for the course.

If not Superman, then might it be Suicide Squad, mentioned by DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns at Comic-Con International 2010? That’s certainly a possibility, although Johns told CBR at the time that “It’s going to take years to make.” So 2012, even late 2012, is probably too quick of a turnaround.

So if it isn’t Superman or Suicide Squad, then what? DC’s library is vast, making it difficult to narrow down the choices. Young Justice is on Cartoon Network, with Green Lantern debuting next month, and a new Batman animated series arriving in 2013. Live-action Deadman and Spectre projects are also in development at The CW and Fox, but they don’t seem well-suited for video games.

Kotaku’s Luke Plunkett is pretending it’s Aquaman — “It’ll be like BioShock. With beards.” — which seems as good of a guess at any at this point.

Stan Lee

Legal | Stan Lee’s Guardian Project, introduced last year at New York Comic Con, has sparked a lawsuit from a Hollywood manager who claims he was cut out of the venture, which transformed National Hockey League mascots into superheroes.

In the lawsuit, filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, Adam Asherson contends the project, now co-owned by NBC Universal, dates back to 2003, when he was introduced to the idea by fellow manager Anthony Chargin and Chargin’s client Jake Shapiro. Asherson, who had a relationship with Lee, says he suggested the legendary comics writer would be the “perfect” partner for the endeavor. They pitched Lee on the project, called Defenders, which focused on the National Football League, with plans to expand to Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the NHL. For unspecified reasons, the NFL deal never came together. However, six years later The Guardian Project emerged with the involvement of Chargin, Shapiro and Lee — but without Asherson.

Asherson claims Guardian Media Entertainment, SLG Entertainment, Chargin and Shapiro have breach an oral joint-venture agreement, committed promissory estoppel and fraud, and breach fiduciary duties by leaving him out of the NHL agreement. [Hollywood, Esq.]

DC Comics

Publishing | Time Warner is planning to launch an evaluation of its “office footprint in the New York metropolitan area and develop a long-range plan to meet our future needs,” an undertaking that leads Glenn Hauman to wonder whether DC Entertainment’s publishing division could end up following the rest of the company to the swanky new headquarters in Burbank, Calif. [Deadline, ComicMix]

Creators | Pádraig Ó Méalóid talks at length with Kevin O’Neill about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1969, Marshall Law and much more. [The Forbidden Planet International Blog]

Creators | Kate Beaton continues her whirlwind media tour for the Hark! A Vagrant! collection with a stop at National Public Radio. [NPR]

Comics | Ethan Kaye looks at “10 Bizarre DC/Marvel Parallels,” from the Doom Patrol and the X-Men to Winter Soldier and Red Hood to Millennium and Secret Invasion. [Topless Robot]

RIP

There are a lot of places where I’d expect commentary about Superman’s costume changes for the New 52 and the Man of Steel movie. A blog for evangelical Christian leadership wasn’t one of them.

What I love about it is that it’s not a moralistic rail against pop culture a la the Jeff Lamb/Action Comics kerfuffle, but a fannish lament much like the ones we’ve seen on most comics and movie blogs. Pastor and author Skye Jethani calls it a “blasphemy against my childhood hero,” but the tone of his article is actually pretty thoughtful and balanced. In the end he decides to judge Man of Steel on its storytelling rather than Superman’s Underoos.

He also, appropriately for his blog, pulls some leadership lessons from the missing trunks: the power of symbolism, generational differences, compromise, and how much influence leaders (religious, political, or Warner Bros.) actually have. The piece is a fascinating and unexpectedly comfortable blending of religion and pop culture.

Anonymous protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks (photo by Vincent Diamante)

Infamous for its protests against the Church of Scientology and website attacks on Sony, Visa and, most recently, Bay Area Rapid Transit, the loose-knit hacker group Anonymous is perhaps best known for a single image that’s become a symbol of its anarchic movement: The V for Vendetta-inspired Guy Fawkes mask worn by its members in public protests.

However, as The New York Times notes this morning, each of those masks purchased by the largely anti-government, anti-corporation activists puts money in the coffers of Time Warner, one of the world’s largest media conglomerates. The parent company of DC Comics, which published the Alan Moore-David Lloyd miniseries in the United States, and Warner Bros., which released the film adaptation in 2006, owns the rights to the image, and receives a licensing fee for each mask sold.

And there are a lot sold, thanks largely to the Anonymous movement. Rubie’s Costumes, the New York company that produces the masks, sells more than 100,000 a year; by comparison, it sells only about 5,000 of each of its other masks.

But it wasn’t until recently that Rubie’s knew why Guy Fawkes was a bestseller. “We just thought people liked the V for Vendetta movie,” Rubie’s executive Howard Beige tells the newspaper. “Then one morning I saw a picture of these protesters wearing the mask in an online news article. I quickly showed my sales manager.”

Leave it to Next Media Animation, the Taiwanese studio last seen on Robot 6 explaining the history of the danger-fraught Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, to view the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises through a fractured prism that makes Grant Morrison’s wildest of storylines seem humdrum by comparison. Judging from this video, the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s movie trilogy has something to do with the bankruptcy of Wayne Enterprises, rising food prices at Wal-Mart, a lovesick Batman, and the return of Halle Berry as a whip-cracking Catwoman.

(via io9.com)

Fusible reports that a panelist for the National Arbitration Forum agreed with DC’s argument that the domain name is identical to the company’s trademarks “Man of Steel,” registered in 1999, and “The Man of Steel,” registered in 1987. He also found that ManofSteel.com was registered and used in bad faith, and was “neither a bona fide offering of goods or services nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use.”

Coni c/o LBR Enterprises, which was believed to have registered the domain in October 2001, failed to respond to DC’s June 22 complaint.

The Zack Snyder-directed Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, is set to open in December 2012. Fusible notes that TheManofSteel.com, which isn’t owned by Warner Bros. or DC, is for sale by its current owner for $300.

Justice League

Warner Bros. has unveiled the 10 designs for the official Comic-Con International bags, which this year include promotional art for DC Comics’ relaunched Justice League, Cartoon Network’s Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Batman: Arkham City.

More than 130,000 of the oversized bags, described by Entertainment Weekly as the San Diego convention’s “ubiquitous accessory,” will be available to those attending the July 20-24 event. This year, for the first time, the 24-inch by 28-inch bags convert into backpacks. Other designs include The Big Bang Theory, Fringe, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, The Looney Tunes Show, ThunderCats and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7.

Check out the designs for Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Batman: Arkham City after the break, and visit TheWB.com to see the rest.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

Batman: Arkham City

While the pre-overhaul Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark seemed somewhat avant garde, maybe even surreal, with its eight-legged spider goddess, Swiss knife-inspired villainess and DayGlo Goblin, the upcoming Batman Live struck me as pretty straightforward: For all of its bullet-time effects, the first trailer for the arena tour looked like someone had simply translated Batman: Hush into a live-action production.

But then today England’s Liverpool Echo released a four-minute sneak peek of the show, and “straightforward” went right out the window. The sequence, bathed in black light, is somehow both languid and manic, with Batman confronted first by a gigantic head of Joker, and then by his minions — who form the teeth of the demonic maw before dropping down and rolling onto the stage. The scene turns even more disturbing as the henchmen form into some kind of psychedelic majorette troupe that’s seen too many performances of Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk. All the while, Dick Grayson is being held captive in … a big hamster ball.

Watch the trailer after the break (you won’t be sorry). Batman Live opens July 19 in England, and then finds its way to North America in August 2012. After seeing this delirium-inducing preview, all I can say is it can’t get here soon enough.

The Pointe, the new home of DC Entertainment

DC Entertainment’s new Burbank, Calif., headquarters isn’t quite Titans Tower, but it’ll do.

The Hollywood Reporter tracks down the building that, beginning in mid-August, will house the company’s film and television, digital, administrative and consumer-products operations: The Pointe, a new 14-story office tower at 2900 W. Alameda Ave., nestled beside Disney/ABC, and less than a mile from Warner Bros. Studios.

DC has a 10-year lease on the entire second floor, 35,000 square feet of space “valued at roughly $16 million.” Landlord Worthe Real Estate Group advertises a “lobby crafted from the finest building materials; sleek and sophisticated, modern patterned glass with rich, imported Italian marble and travertine, walnut ceiling, and unique waved wood wall system.” The building also boasts “10 foot floor-to-ceiling vision glass for panoramic view of city and mountains,” and “over three acres of picturesque plaza with mature shade trees, walkways and benches.” There’s also a health club and restaurant on the first floor.

Warner Bros. has set up DC with temporary offices at 3400 Riverside Drive, where some have been working since last year, presumably following the announcement in late September of the massive corporate restructuring that leaves the publishing division in New York City while consolidating the rest of the companies operations on the West Coast. WildStorm’s offices in La Jolla, Calif., as well as the imprint itself, were shuttered as part of the reorganization.

Although DC wouldn’t say how many employees will work out of the new space once construction is complete, it’s known that DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson will have an office there and at the Warner Bros. lot.

Tim Drake Robin render from "Batman: Arkham City"

Following leaks on retail websites, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment have finally confirmed that Robin will be a fully playable character in the challenge mode of Batman: Arkham City, the hotly anticipated follow-up to the acclaimed 2009 video game Arkham Asylum.

However, the “Tim Drake Robin pack” — yes, it’s Tim Drake, not Dick Grayson — is available only to those in North America who pre-order the game from Best Buy. So, sorry, fans of Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne and … anyone outside of North America.

Batman: Arkham City is set inside the newly constructed fortified walls that have transformed part of Gotham’s slums into a sprawling maximum-security prison for the city’s gangsters, thugs and criminally insane. Robin, who comes with his own gadgets and special moves, will be playable in all challenge maps, as well as to additional maps included with the pack — Black Mask Hideout and Freight Train Escape. There’s also a bonus Red Robin character skin.

Developed by Rocksteady Studios, Batman: Arkham City will debut in October.

Alan Grayson

Although plenty of politicians have run for office on the Green Party ticket, Florida Democrat Alan Grayson may be the first to endorse the Green Lantern platform.

In an email sent today to supporters, the former Congressman attempts to draw a connection between the lukewarm reviews for Warner Bros.’ Green Lantern movie, the famous exchange between Hal Jordan and an African-American man from Green Lantern #76 and … the erosion of middle-class America.

Wait, there’s more: Grayson, who lost his 8th District seat last year to Republican Daniel Webster, recasts the classic scene so that he’s the African-American man, and “right-wing loons” are Hal Jordan.

Read the email after the break, and stick around for the Green Lantern oath.

Dear XXXX:

The movie Green Lantern opened on Friday, to mixed reviews.  Maybe the reviews would have been better if the movie had included this powerful exchange, from Green Lantern #76:

African-American Man: I’ve been readin’ about you . . . How you work for the blue skins . . . and how on a planet someplace you helped out the orange skins . . . and you done considerable for the purple skins! Only there’s skins you never bother with – the black skins!  I want to know . . . how come?!  Answer me that, Mr. Green Lantern!

Green Lantern: I  . . . can’t . . . .

I may never have the chance to talk to George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, or any of the other Masters of the Universe who led and misled our country for eight long years.  Nor may I ever have the chance to speak to Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, or any of the other savage right-wing loons who want to finish the job that Bush et al. started.  But if I could, I might say:

Me: I’ve been readin’ about you . . . How you work for multinational corporations like Big Oil. . . .  And how you say you built all those roads and schools and bridges in some country in Asia.   And in some other country in the Middle East someplace you got rid of some dictator.  Only there’s one country you never bother with – America!  I want to know . . . how come?!  Answer me that, Mr. Flag-Waiving Patriot!

Them: I  . . . can’t . . . .

Well, I can answer that.  For a generation now, we have seen the heartless, callous erosion and destruction of all the things that make you a member of the middle class in America:

A job.

A home.

A car.

The chance to see a doctor when you are sick.

A pension or retirement account.

Social Security and Medicare.

And we’ve seen them replaced by endless war, falling home values, no pensions, lower wages, and now what Karl Marx called a “reserve army of the unemployed” – to keep wages down forever.

Even after only two years in office, as one out of 435 in the House, I can point to a lot of things that I did to preserve, protect and expand the middle class in America, and to help those of us who were falling through the cracks.

I look at our so-called leaders on the other side of the aisle, and I see nothing like that.  Only a perverse delight in eliminating programs that help my fellow Americans in need.  They’ll lead us, all right – they’ll lead us straight to ruin.

The next time you see one of them — at a town hall meeting, in their plush offices, or just on the street – ask them this:  “What have you done to help the people?  Answer me that!”

If they’re honest, they’ll say what Green Lantern said:  “I can’t.”

Courage,

Alan Grayson

In brightest day,
In blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power: Green Lantern’s Light.

(hat tip, Russ Burlingame)

Borders

Retailing | Bankrupt bookseller Borders Group said in court papers filed Friday that it will name a stalking-horse bidder by July 1, with an eye toward completing the sale of all of its assets by the end of July. The Detroit News spotlights the two private-equity firms that have placed bids to buy at least a majority of the book chain’s 416 remaining stores: Phoenix-based Najafi Cos., which owns the Book of the Month Club, Columbia House and BMG; and Los Angeles-based Gores Group — the likely stalking-horse bidder — whose investments include Alliance Entertainment and Westwood One. [Reuters, The Detroit News]

Legal | Peanutweeter, a blog that combined frames from Charles Schulz’s Peanuts strips with real, out-of-context tweets, has been taken down by Tumblr as the result of a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint from Iconix Brand Group, which acquired a majority stake in the Peanuts assets last year. One blogger, however, argues the blog should be considered fair use. [RIPeanutweeter, Boing Boing]

Retailing | David Ranii looks at how some North Carolina comic stores are weathering the recession. [The Charlotte Observer]

Geoff Johns

Creators | The Detroit Free Press profiles native son Geoff Johns. [Detroit Free Press]

Creators | Heath McCoy profiles artist, and Calgary native, Fiona Staples ahead of her Joe Shuster Awards win: “So many (artists) get disappointed, because they really wanted to work at Marvel or draw Batman or that sort of thing, and that only happens for a fraction of them. It’s not the most practical goal … You sort of get tunnel vision fixating on these things … My goals are just set in terms of the level I want my art to be at.” [Calgary Herald]

Comics | BBC News Scotland spotlights Spirit of Hope comic produced by the U.K. nonprofit group Comic Book Alliance to benefit earthquake victims in Japan and New Zealand. [BBC News]

Comics | Roger W. Rautio Jr. of Canton, Ohio New York, hopes to establish a permanent Comic Book Hall of Fame. He just needs money and a location. [Watertown Daily Times]

Broadway | Julie Taymor, who was fired in March as director of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, is alarmed that the producers consulted focus groups for their overhaul of the $70-million musical: “Shakespeare would have been appalled. Forget about it. It would be impossible to have these works come out because there’s always something that people don’t like.” [The New York Times]

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Okay, maybe not. But someone at the space agency is a comic-book nerd — go figure! — the stunning image of the day on the NASA website is accompanied by the headline “A Green Ring Fit for a Superhero.” It’s a shot from the Spitzer Space Telescope of a glowing emerald nebula “reminiscent of the glowing ring wielded by the superhero Green Lantern.” The description goes on to name check the Guardians of Oa, power rings and the Green Lantern Corps. Visit the NASA website to enjoy the image at full size.

Action Comics #1

A federal judge has denied an appeal by the attorney representing the heirs of Superman’s creators, clearing the way for Warner Bros. to gain access to documents the studio contends will demonstrate he “orchestrated a web of collusive agreements” that led the families to reject longtime deals with DC Comics.

The documents, which were stolen from the law offices of Marc Toberoff and delivered anonymously to Warner Bros. in December 2008. Although a judge at the time ruled that the documents were privileged and ordered them returned, it was determined that the attached seven-page cover letter was not protected by attorney-client confidentiality. That letter, dubbed the “Superman-Marc Toberoff Timeline,” became the basis for the studio’s 2010 lawsuit against the attorney, in which it claims he acted improperly to convince the heirs of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to seek to reclaim the original copyright to the Man of Steel. Warner Bros. also alleges tht Toberoff schemed to secure for himself “a majority and controlling financial stake” in the Superman rights.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ralph Zarefsky ruled late last month that those documents aren’t protected by attorney-client privilege because Toberoff didn’t fight a grand jury subpoena issued in the investigation of their theft, thus waiving privilege. However, the judge deferred the decision to presiding U.S. District Judge Otis Wright who, according to Hollywood, Esq., on Monday rejected Toberoff’s argument that he had no choice but to cooperate with prosecutors in the burglary investigation.

Barring another appeal, Warner Bros. will finally get unfettered access to the documents that it hopes, at the very least, will force Toberoff, long a thorn in the studio’s side, to resign as the Siegel family’s attorney. Whether the papers are the legal hand grenade that Warner Bros. attorneys have made them out to be, demonstrating improper and even illegal, behavior, of course remains to be seen. Wright could look at the evidence and decide Toberoff’s actions were merely those of an attorney aggressively soliciting clients and (just as aggressively) representing their interests.

If that’s the case, it would make this lawsuit only the latest detour in the decade-long fight for Superman — one that became even more bitter in 2008 following a ruling that Siegel’s widow Joanne Siegel and daughter Laura Siegel Larson had successfully recaptured half of the original copyright to the Man of Steel. The window will open in 2013 for Shuster’s estate to do the same.

Deadline’s Nikki Finke offers spirited commentary on the Warner Bros. lawsuit against Toberoff, focusing on the stolen documents and the studio’s controversial tactics.