After last week’s necessary, but not terribly exciting introductory column, I wanted to hit you with something more thoughtful than a review of the indie solicits for January. But, most of them just came out in last week’s Previews and I want to stay timely, so here we are. Flipping through all the non-DC/Marvel stuff in the catalog, this is the stuff that caught my attention in a positive way. There were a couple of head-scratchers that rubbed me the wrong way, but I resisted snarking about them because there’s enough good stuff that I’d rather spend the energy on.

Just so you know, the stuff I talk about below isn’t everything that I think is going to be good in January. In addition to this list, there are other books that I’ve been reading and enjoying on a consistent basis, but couldn’t think of anything more intelligent to say about them other than, “This is still a good series that I like.” They’re all more than worthy of mentioning though, so here they are: Conan, Samurai: Heaven and Earth Volume 2, Criminal Macabre, The Goon Noir, Elephantmen, Phonogram, Strange Girl, Witchblade, Freshmen II, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, The Phantom, and Wasteland.

Now for the new stuff.

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It looks as if plans have been shelved for a Green Lantern movie starring actor/comedian Jack Black.

IESB.net has a clip from its interview with Black in which he claims fan backlash to reinvisioning Green Lantern as a bumbling idiot caused Warner Bros. and DC Comics to pull the plug on the project.

“Somebody wrote a script for me, but I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Black says in the video clip. “Too many people were mad at the idea of me being the Green Lantern. … You know how it goes with comic-book people.”

IESB reviewed the script — written by Robert Smigel — back in August.

The second annual Livejournal Batgirl Meme is in full effect. To see the contributions, follow that link.

(Batgirl illustration by Ashleigh “Py” Firth.)

Sure, Justin Hartley looks good as Green Arrow on Smallville, but what’s the deal with his weaponry and equipment? MacQuarrie at Suspension of Disbelief is wondering the same thing:

The telescopic-night-vision targeting sunglasses. What’s wrong with letting him just be that good? He’s supposed to be a superhero; maybe it would help if he were a little bit, well, super.

The semi-automatic crossbow. With a retracting cable, no less. I’m still trying to figure out how that thing reloads and draws itself. But that pales beside…

The self-folding compound bow. They made a point of only showing this gadget in the dark and on the move, so you never really got a good look at it, but no matter how much they tried to hide it, they have a few serious problems ….

There’s much more at the link, of course.

I’m a little hesitatnt to put things that light up into my bathtub, but if you’re braver than me and a Dr. Who fan, then check it out …

Ducktor Who is a must-have for Doctor Who fans everywhere. Place the Glow in the Duck in a bath and watch the water-activated LED bulbs light up and change colour inside the duck. The light goes out when the duck is removed from the water. Perfect for time travelling adventures in the bath, pond or pool!

Found via Maximum Verbosity.

Somewhere out there in BlogLand is a soap opera blogger scratching his or her head over the fact that he or she is getting press releases from Marvel Comics. I wonder if said blogger finds Marvel’s press releases as entertaining as I found the one I received from The Guiding Light:

GUIDING LIGHT’S episode, titled “She’s a Marvel,” written by headwriter David Kreizman, focuses on mild mannered and harried cop, mother and wife Harley Davidson Cooper, played by Beth Ehlers. Zapped by an electrical current, Cooper finds herself infused with the energy, and is able to channel it, giving her the powers of a superhero — levitation and electricity conduction. How will her new powers affect her life?

The crossover has already started in the comics, and it hits TV this Wednesday. But if you can’t wait for Wednesday (heh), CBS has a preview of the episode up on their site.

This week saw the debut of two new columns here at Blog@Newsarama. First was Michael May’s weekly look at the indy comic scene, Fringe Benefits, followed by Kevin Melrose’s Comics, Covered, where he dissected Marvel’s spy/SHIELD covers.

Also of note was an interview with Scott McCloud conducted by Rich Watson, as well as many other interesting posts …

A fan writes from the bottom of his broken heart
Who is Supernova? The answer may shock…you!
Superman will return, studio insiders say
And Jethro Tull didn’t deserve a heavy metal Grammy
O’Brien vs. Marvel: The Beat goes on
Levin: A man who isn’t afraid to tell the truth and point the finger
The Religious Value of Mainstream Comics
Captain Underpants, unite!
Alias AKA Abacus. Or something
Every Loser wins
Wanted: Artists, preferably cheap
Candy’s dandy, but …
No pictures! Just words! And not many of those, either!
Brandweek: Marvel needs women, GL’s got ‘em
Heroes aren’t hard to find
Screen bits: Moon Knight and Cobalt 60
Seven Soldiers delayed in part of the country
Civil War was just the beginning
All-Star: You can have it on time, or you can have it good
Britney Spears, I blame you
How to Relate to Your Peers, for Comics Creators
‘I’m a totally awesome kisser, right?’
Winger can’t get enuff of Ethan Van Sciver
TCJ: Loose lips may sink ships
This is the day your love has made …
Counting down to Ultimate Alliance
Civil War: Fascism unbound?
So, Hulk 2, or Hulk: Hulk Want Freddie Prinze Jr.?

Features

Grumpy Old Fan
Point/Counterpoint in the Blogosphere: Supergirl
The Fifth Color
Can’t Wait for Wednesday
Meanwhile …
Point/Counterpoint in the Blogosphere: Roy Lichenstein

Because sometimes, love hurts:

Civil War. It’s been awesome. You’ve had me from the first, buying almost every tie-in because, unlike most crossovers, the vast majority of them have been relevant and solid. You suckered me in, only to grossly offend me.

Did you actually read ‘Choosing Sides’?! Were you aware that there’s a story in it wherein the Marvel Universe crosses over with Guiding Light?!

It’s from a Marvel fan’s MySpace blog, and it’s beautiful. The full thing under the fold, because to edit the swearing for the general audience would be to ruin the whole thing.

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The identity of the man (?) behind the mask of Supernova, the mystery hero of DC’s 52, may be a closely guarded secret in the DC Universe, but the official website of the series has no problem telling you who’s wearing the mask: You. Or at least, you if you download the “special” Supernova Hallowe’en Mask.

Admit it: You don’t know whether to laugh at them or congratulate them.

In my years of linkblogging, I’ve seen roughly 537 profiles of Art Spiegelman, 264 of Marjane Satrapi, and 191 of Chris Ware. But I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve seen a profile of the Mighty Thor:

Alongside having thunder and lighting at his disposal, Thor used a Norse mythology inspired ‘mjolnir’ – a mystical hammer – to fend off mortal foes such as the Wrecking Crew and the Grey Gargoyle. He was also able to deploy his ‘Belt of Strength’ to great effect. However, away from his tools, Thor possessed the kind of superhuman strength, stamina and reflexes that put him up there with other Marvel heroes like Hulk and Gladiator.

Despite hailing from Askard – kingdom of the Gods – Thor was not immortal as many believed. To maintain his existence he needs to take a bite from the Golden Apples of Idun every now and then. They certainly sound more appealing than your usual Granny Smiths.

I think what most creator profiles are missing are mentions of their arch-nemeses and their secret weaknesses.

Now that Superman Returns has finally broken the $200 million domestic box-office mark, it looks as if Warner Bros. is pushing forward with the sequel.

IESB reports that the studio finalized a deal with director Bryan Singer over the weekend, and plans to start production next fall.

Citing “studio insiders,” the website says the sequel’s budget will be slightly smaller than the original’s, which was about $208 million, plus $50 million or so for marketing. The follow-up will be in the neighborhood of $140 million to $175 million, plus marketing.

Also, expect much more action in the sequel, the insiders say.

Not everyone is happy about Gene Yang’s National Book Award nomination. Tony Long, copy chief at Wired, writes:

I have not read this particular “novel” but I’m familiar with the genre so I’m going to go out on a limb here. First, I’ll bet for what it is, it’s pretty good. Probably damned good. But it’s a comic book. And comic books should not be nominated for National Book Awards, in any category. That should be reserved for books that are, well, all words.

This is not about denigrating the comic book, or graphic novel, or whatever you want to call it. This is not to say that illustrated stories don’t constitute an art form or that you can’t get tremendous satisfaction from them. This is simply to say that, as literature, the comic book does not deserve equal status with real novels, or short stories. It’s apples and oranges.

While his argument seems to be more about the difference in form rather than anything to do with content, his choice of words — “the comic book does not deserve equal status with real novels” — isn’t doing anything to endear me to his stance.

Per Random House …

Novel: a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes.

So are graphics novels (hey, there’s that word again) a subset of the above definition, or something else entirely?

Over on the blogomain of Heidi MacDonald, Paul O’Brien looks at Marvel’s sales for September with his customary wit and cynicism. Of things to note this month, the value of the Civil War brand, and the downside of such a brand on other books in the Marvel line:

Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr’s relaunch of the Kirby concept [the Eternals] has fallen under the radar with all the big stunts going on at the moment – this isn’t even in the league of MARVEL 1602 where sales are concerned. On the flip side, though, it’s selling very well for an Eternals book.

That last line? I think that’s called “damning with faint praise.”

Over on Tom Brevoort’s blog this week, he’s been showing you behind the scenes of House of M, including one of the initial documents distributed internally about the project:

At the climax of HOUSE OF M, we’ll be restoring the Marvel Universe more or less to the state we’re all familiar with. However, as a result of this storyline, assorted key elements can have changed as regards the characters’ history or status quos or whatever. A number of characters will be rebooted whole cloth. However, this is a device we’re going to be using sparingly and selectively, so as not to undermine the underpinnings of the universe. If there’s a change of this nature that you’d like to make, talk it over with your editor and have him present it to the HOUSE OF M braintrust, and we’ll make a determination as to whether it makes sense in the big picture. This is an opportunity to clean up the messes of the past, not to create new ones.

… This shouldn’t be approached as a shtick, or a Days of Future Past, or an Elseworlds. Its really happening and it will affect the characters. We are only as good as our weakest link in terms of selling the importance of the event to the audience, so the more gravitas you can give your individual tie-in stories, the better.

Over at The Engine, Top Cow’s Rob Levin admits to the harsh realities of publishing:

Some publishers can get away with certain numbers knowing that they’ll make their money back in trade sales, foreign distribution, or movie deals. While we’re not against taking a loss on a project we really believe in provided it’s a quality book we’d be proud to put out, sometimes the loss outweighs the prestige. As I typed that last line I wonder how much of a hypocrite I look like if you go and read all my responses on this thread…

The thing is, it isn’t all about money. But ten years ago people were willing to take a chance on new properties. But for every Walking Dead, there are about 50 books no one ever actually reads, and that die before the creators intend. It’s becoming increasingly impossible for a company, one who assumes all creative, publishing, and marketing costs to publish a new ongoing series that is actually ongoing. Nowadays getting a book to 12 issues is hard. I can’t think of the last new book we launched that got there. Maybe it’s because our model is more six-issue minis, but maybe it’s because our ongoings are forced to become minis because the talent used, good or bad, makes it impossible to continue the series without some major budget issues.

I won’t bore you with economics, but that’s really what it comes down to…. [A]bout a month ago I had a pitch rejected from on high. It was a book from an established indie team, and regardless of any creator-owned/control issues that may have been brought up, the thing came down to the fact that while it was a damn good story, and a damn good team, it wasn’t going to sell the numbers we need. We would eventually be forced to cancel it, even though we had three years of story mapped out, because we’d be losing money probably from the second issue on.

Sorry, I’m kind of sick and I realize this is a terrible post since I can’t stay focused. Anyway, the biggest problem is that even when we take chances, fans don’t. I’ll point at last year as the prime example. Three books launched over six months. 2 ongoings, one mini. I can blame the concepts, the teams, or the marketing, but the fact of the matter is, we attempted to expand our line and got bit directly in the ass. The market didn’t support the books.

Yesterday the U.S. postal service unveiled the artwork for their 2007 commemorative stamp series, in which Marvel’s characters join DC’s in being immortalized in stamp form. Look for them next July.

Don MacPherson takes a break from reviewing comics to show us at what might be happening at your hometown Civil War Recruitment Office:

Recruitment Officer #1: Yes! And he needs strapping young men such as yourself in the war against Captain America’s Secret Avengers.

Man: Cap? He’s cool, too.

Recruitment Officer #2: Oh, no. He’s a bad man who must be stopped.

Recruitment Officer #1: You see, Timmy…

Man: My name’s Julian.

Recruitment Officer #1: Timmy, Captain America and some other superhumans have opted to violate the law — the Superhuman Registration Act. You see, Davey…

Man: Julian.

Recruitment Officer #1: Davey, men and women with super-powers are like walking weapons of mass destruction, and the government needs to know who they are, what they do and who they vote for. That way, they can tell the good guys from the bad guys. The government gives the good guys jobs and the bad guys prison cells. Since Cap and company don’t want to register, they’re automatically the bad guys.

Recruitment Officer #2: And the government needs handsome, heterosexual boys like you to spank them! [produces riding crop and smacks her desk]

On the plus side, it is good to see Happy and Pepper working again.

Palladin the “Mad Monk” of “Christians Read Comics Too!” talks about his religion and how it helps him appreciate themes in superhero comics:

I gain comfort from heroic tales. They remind me of the calling I have accepted as a Christian. I live now hidden within my own Faith because of the forces more powerful than I feel I can stand up to an still be an effect minister. I read and wish I had the Oan Power Ring, the evils of the Sudan and other places would be on my list as places to try and protect the helpless. I see wish fulfillment on a global scale as I try and do simple heroic deeds locally. I can not battle the regimes in the Sudan, but I can help raise money to feed the refugees and displaced. I cannot stop evil in the world, but I can combat it at every turn I find it in my path.

Unfortunately, he’s found that much of his church isn’t open to these ideas:

What is my place? I wrote the title as a way of striking out because “church politics” had used my hobby as the way to attack me. It still stings. I was in no less terms being accused of being a person that would harm children because I read and reviewed comics of a supernatural nature. Lies were told, this I know because I looked on sites of a Christian nature that was cited as the source of the attackers information. Other lies were dismissed by people that read the addresses of pages printed from on-line that were not the sites I wrote for and with. Why and how did I survive the almost destruction of my professional ministry? God.

I’m a little late discovering this, but on his Myspace blog comedian/actor/comics writer Patton Oswalt has been recommending a horror story a day since the beginning of October.

It’s a terrific, and varied, list that includes the likes of W.W. Jacobs’ The Monkey’s Paw, The Brothers Grimm’s Rumplestiltskin, Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Horror of the Heights, and Alan Moore and Rick Veitch’s The Saga of the Swamp Thing #31.

Oswalt’s list of “31 Horror Stories” starts here and continues here.

(Via TV Squad)

At my old stomping grounds, the horror blog Dark, But Shining, Sam Costello talks with writer Steve Niles about, of all things, horror:

Costello: I think it’s fair to credit you as the guy, along with Ben Templesmith, who really kicked off the current boom in horror comics with 30 Days of Night. When that book was coming to the market in 2000/2001, did you see this boom coming? Did you feel that horror comics were about to come back in a big way?

Niles: I never stopped loving horror comics and really, most of the things I pitch were horror before and after 30 Days so I didn’t feel one way or the other. As a fan and reader of comics I knew there were no decent horror comics out there. The ones that were out had been sanitized to death in the name of “art” and I wasn’t interested. So I guess the short answer is no, I didn’t see a boom coming. Now the question is, will it last. It would be tragic if it was treated like a fad and comics became all-leotard all the time again.

Related: Costello launches a horror webcomic, Split Lip