Marvel.com has been posting updates on the Marvel Creative Summit that’s going on this week. It’s more of a tease than any real meat:

As Brian Bendis laid out his plans for the final phase of 2008′s massive Secret Invasion crossover—first phase coming your way in just a few short months!—one thing became clear: once again, the Avengers will never be the same following Skrull-a-palooza (his words). Bendis’ proposals for the Avengers in general and a certain Iron Avenger in particular, kicked off the most spirited debates of the day, as everybody seemed to have an opinion of where the Avengers should end up—well, where those who survive war with the Skrulls will end up. 2007 saw the death of Captain America—will another Avengers cornerstone fall in 2008? Things are getting pretty intense…

The part I found most interesting was the guest list, as Young Avengers/Grey’s Anatomy writer Allan Heinberg is in attendance.

As we careen toward Christmas, much of the comics industry is slowing down, or shutting down completely — well, at least the parts responsible for generating halfway interesting news and announcements.

However, those segments that crank out the big-ticket books and merchandise are still humming along. This week, Dark Horse brings out Criminal Macabre and Umbrella Academy T-shirts and an Aliens omnibus edition, Marvel unshelves the second Marvel Masterworks: Rawhide Kid ($55!), and SLG Publishing unveils the hardcover Haunted Mansion, Vol. 1.

Amid all of that you’ll find a new issue of The Umbrella Academy, the final issue of Exiles, Sean McKeever’s debut issue of Birds of Prey, the first issue of IDW’s Classic Doctor Who, and the first volume of the X-Men-esque Gakuen Alice.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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According to a press release, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson will executive produce two films based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

Details from the press release:

* MGM and New Line will co-finance and co-distribute two films, “The Hobbit” and a sequel to “The Hobbit.” New Line will distribute in North America and MGM will distribute internationally.

* Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films based on “The Hobbit.” New Line will manage the production of the films, which will be shot simultaneously.

* Peter Jackson and New Line have settled all litigation relating to the “Lord of the Rings” (LOTR) Trilogy.

Said Peter Jackson, “I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a legacy we proudly share with Bob and Michael, and together, we share that legacy with millions of loyal fans all over the world. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth. I also want to thank Harry Sloan and our new friends at MGM for helping us find the common ground necessary to continue that journey.”

“Peter Jackson has proven himself as the filmmaker who can bring the extraordinary imagination of Tolkien to life and we full heartedly agree with the fans worldwide who know he should be making ‘The Hobbit,’” said Sloan, MGM’s Chairman and CEO. “Now that we are all in agreement on ‘The Hobbit,’ we can focus on assembling the production team that will capture this phenomenal tale on film.”

The Warren Commission has nothing on MTV.com, which takes an exhaustive — or, perhaps, exhausting – nearly frame-by-frame look at the first Dark Knight trailer.

I’ve been blogging for slightly more than four years which, by comics blogosphere standards, makes me an old-timer (behind Dirk Deppey and Neilalien, but neck and neck with Graeme McMillan, Mike Sterling and a handful of others).

But veteran writer Mark Evanier is truly old school: Today marks his eighth anniversary blogging about the television, animation and comics industries, and providing invaluable obituaries and reminisces of creators who have passed on.

Thank you, and happy anniversary!

First Second Books‘ Spring ’08 catalog arrived in the mail this weekend, providing the first glimpse of the anticipated Prince of Persia graphic novel, by video game creator Jordan Mechner, and artists LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland.

Although Prince of Persia won’t be released until fall, the spring promises plenty of gems: Kaput and Zosky, by Lewis Trondheim (April); Three Shadows, by Cyril Pedrosa (April); Little Vampire, by Joann Sfar (May); Life Sucks, by Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria and Warren Pleece (May); Sardine in Outer Space, Vol. 5, by Emmanuel Guibert (June); and Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden (June).

I’m particularly looking forward to Three Shadows and Life Sucks.

Many, many moons ago I linked to a story about plans to adapt Ronald Searle’s Belles of St. Trinian’s series into a new, live-action film. Now The Sun has an update:

FIFTY years after they first charged through the crumbling corridors of their school, the girls of St. Trinian’s are back.

And they’re as wild and sexy as ever.

GEMMA ARTERTON, TALLULAH RILEY, TAMSON EGERTON and LILY COLE are among the gorgeous girls creating anarchy in the classroom at St. Trinian’s.

RUPERT EVERETT stars as both the headmistress, Camilla Fritton, and her dodgy art dealer brother, Carnaby.

COLIN FIRTH is a government minister determined to expose the poor standard of education and RUSSELL BRAND is the new Flash Harry.

Clicking on the link also takes you to a video interview with Everett and Firth about the film.

Comic strip artists, especially those who work on well-established strips, don’t get a lot of media coverage these days, which is what makes this interview with Blondie cartoonist Dean Young all the more intriguing:

Q: Where do you get your storyline ideas?

A: Well, when you stop and think of the amount of material you have to consume this comic strip, there’s just no way you can draw from real-life situations. You just have to make it up. You have to fabricate it. What a wonderful cast of characters I have to work with. That’s the joy of working with the characters I do; because you put them in all these different situations and it’s like a chemical reaction. They react (to) each other. There can be a spark here and a spark there. When you see that spark, you just go to that little spark and you expand it and come up with an idea that you think is funny and that’s how it happens. I just run the characters around in my mind until something funny happens. There’s a little spark and I just elaborate on that spark. That’s where you come up with the gag. But working with a guy like Dagwood Bumstead, a monkey could write this comic strip. When you’ve got characters like that working for you, it’s not all that tough, you know.

Over on the Comic Book Resources forums, several folks are creating some fun Simpsons/X-Men mash-ups, like the one pictured above. Also appearing on the thread are Moeverine, Havok the slack jawed yokel and APU-calypse, among many others.

Does this count as US-flavored doujinshi?

Lea Hernandez shares a link to the online gallery of quilter and threadpainter Alice Woodside, who has created many Daredevil-themed thread paintings. Go check’em out.

The Telegraph has a profile up of 10-year-old comic prodigy Alexa Kitchen:

She’s just ten and she’s already had her second book of comic strips published to great critical acclaim. Her first, Drawing Comics Is Easy! (Except When It’s Hard), was published when she was seven, and nominated for two prestigious cartoon-book awards. Her work made such a splash she was asked to contribute to a major anthology of female cartoonists, which included a story by Joyce Carol Oates and some of the most experienced names in the business. And, if anything more is needed to add to your impression of her extraordinary achievement, it’s only in recent years that women of any age – save the odd notable exception, such as Posy Simmonds – have broken through in the predominantly male world of cartoons and graphic novels. She’s not just a cute kid who can draw a bit; she’s the real deal.

–SunJournal.com has a profile up of Captain Marvel artist Lee Weeks.

–The Gretna Breeze talks to the owners of the Comic Book Superstore, who went from Internet comic shop to owning a storefront.

–Matt Maxwell is previewing the first chapter of his upcoming comic, Strangeways: Murder Moon, over on his website.

–Want to support your favorite TV show writers? Order some pencils.

–Which Peanuts character are you?

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I didn’t know much –actually, anything — about Will Smith’s next film, Hancock , until someone sent me a link to the film’s trailer on JoBlo.com. And I still don’t know what it looks like, because I can’t get the player to work for me. Moviefone has a description of the film:

A hard-drinking superhero with a notorious reputation as a womanizer enters into an unlikely affair with a small-town housewife in director Peter Berg’s unconventional look at the private life of a superhuman crime-fighter. Will Smith stars as the embittered do-gooder whose lifestyle is more akin to a rock star than a role model, and who has grown as disillusioned with his once-admiring public as they have of him.

The film is due in July. I’ve put the movie code up after the jump … maybe you’ll have better luck.

EDIT: When all else fails, try YouTube (thanks Sean).

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The Wall Street Journal speaks oh-so-briefly with Marjane Satrapi about Persepolis, the animated adaptation of her comic books. Yes, comic books. Don’t call them “graphic novels”:

The term “graphic novel” has taken off here in the States. How do you feel about your work being described that way?

I don’t like “graphic novel.” It’s a word that publishers created for the bourgeois to read comics without feeling bad. Comics is just a way of narrating — it’s just a media type. Chris Ware doesn’t like it either — he says it sounds like Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

In case you’re wondering, Satrapi’s favorite animated film is Disney’s The Jungle Book.

Warner Bros. has released a teaser poster for the live-action Speed Racer, which is set for release in May.

According to FirstShowing.net, the theater display is lenticular, with the helmet and Mach 5 appearing in 3-D.

Mark Andrew Smith and Dan Hipp sent us an early gift this year … all eight pages of their Amazing Joy Buzzards story from the Image Comics Holiday Special that came out in 2005.

Smith and Hipp are currently working on volume 3 of the AJB saga, titled “MonsterLove.” It’s due next July.

Click on the images to see a larger version, and enjoy!

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Serkis joins Jackson for Tintin

Andy Serkis — Gollum of The Lord of the Rings fame — is reteaming with director Peter Jackson for Tintin, the collaboration between Jackson and Steven Spielberg.

Although DreamWorks wouldn’t confirm Serkis’ role, The Hollywood Reporter says he’s believed to play Captain Haddock, the temperamental sea captain of Herge’s Tintin comics.

The planned movie trilogy will employ performance-capture technology, and will be produced in digital 3-D.

Rossum, Tamura and Park leap into Dragonball

In other casting news, Emmy Rossum (Mystic River), Eriko Tamura (Heroes) and Joon Park (Speed Racer) have landed rolls in 20th Century Fox’s Dragonball.

Rossum will play Bulma, Tamura will play Mai, and Park will tackle bad boy Yamcha. They join Justin Chatwin, James Marsters and Jamie Chung in James Wong’s live-action production.

Related: HoyCinema has some photos from the set

Heroes: “I’m hoping we get back to the feeling of the first season”

Speaking of Heroes, EW.com chats with actor Milo Ventimiglia (Peter) about, among other things, the lack of enthusiasm for the show’s second season.

“As a person that’s on the show as well as a fan of the show, I always want to get back to the great character moments that drive the series,” he says. “I’m hoping we get back to the feeling of the first season: that kind of base human emotion, that level where these people that have these abilities are understanding them still.”

The Watchmen production blog has been updated with an entry from the comic’s co-creator, artist Dave Gibbons, who visited the movie set for “perhaps the most surreal experience of my life”:

There they are, in a shadowy clubhouse, standing around a map of the USA, just as we’d imagined them. The smoke of the Comedian’s cigar hangs in the air as I drink in the details of the scene. Framed old copies of The New York Gazette tell stories of past exploits; trophies glint in glass-fronted display cases; Moloch’s solar weapon shines in a dusty corner and over there, on its mannequin stand, the faded costume of the original Nite Owl keeps silent vigil.

Then, a sudden flash of unearthly blue light announces the arrival of Dr. Manhattan and the tableau comes to life. The voices of quarreling heroes rise and fall, a Zippo flares and the map catches fire.

There’s a little more at the link, with a second installment forthcoming.

Attention all North American college students in their junior or senior year next school year and have an interest in cartooning. The Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship is now taking applications:

Along with a completed entry form, applicants are required to send 5 samples of their own cartooning artwork; noting if and where the work has been published (either print or web).
Please send copies.
DO NOT send original artwork.
DEADLINE: JANUARY 31, 2008

The applications will be judged by the National Cartoonists Society Foundation (NCSF) and the number of scholarships given out and their amounts will be at their discretion of the NCSF.

Click on the link to download an application.