John August, the announced ScreenWriter for the in-development Captain Marvel (DC) Movie, says today that the film is no longer a go. He was surprisingly detailed on the whole process in his blog, from the film’s inception at New Line where he wrote a light hearted script mixing comedy and action, to the Writers’ Strike and its move to Warner Bros:

The new executive at Warners said he agreed with the New Line notes, and told the producers I should go ahead with my rewrite. We weren’t on the official production schedule, but there were discussions about budgets and timelines. We were definitely Pete Segal’s next movie, and many of the stories coming out of the press junkets for Get Smart were about Shazam.

When we turned the new draft in to the studio, we got a reaction that made me wonder if anyone at Warners had actually read previous drafts or the associated notes. The studio felt the movie played too young. They wanted edgier. They wanted Billy to be older. They wanted Black Adam to appear much earlier.

(I pointed out that Black Adam appears on page one, but never got a response.)

He goes on to speculate as to why the Studio had such a big change of heart, and how he delivered what they asked with the third draft, including more one-on-one Captain Marvel vs. Black Adam, and even a reveal of Nanda Parbat as a location in the film. He took a trip overseas, got back, and the project was killed.

The movie may see life again, but August is confident that the current incarnation, with any version of his script, is deader than Mary Marvel’s innocence. But hey, at a time when DC desperately needs to breathe life into more movie franchises than just those that have a flying rodent-themed character, it probably isn’t in their best interest for the first one to bear the name of their chief competitor…

It’s always a pleasant surprise to find out that a cute girl, especially one on a geeky show, also happens to be a geek. This morning, Brea Grant, currently Daphne the Speedster on Heroes (and a high point to this season, if I may), posted her Best Books of 2008 list on her blog (Spoiler alert for the most recent Fables trade at the link). It wound up being much more than a top ten, and the reason for that was the inclusion of her favorite comics of the year. A sampling of the comics included one that will make Sarah quite happy, and one of my faves from Marvel:

13) local by brian wood and ryan kelly – i could have put a bunch of stuff up here by brian wood but i chose local just because of it’s amazingness and massiveness. although i feel like i specifically relate to brian’s stuff because we came from similar music scenes, i think anyone could relate to it. some of the best writing out there.

15) x-factor: the only game in town by peter david, pablo raimondi and valentine de landro – i’ve really fallen for the x-factor characters. maybe playing a superhero myself helps with that but overall, i think they are really well-developed and likeably. plus, this includes the one where everyone almost dies in a giant fire. pretty frightening.

Ben Templesmith’s Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, and Fables also made her list. Six out of 16 total books isn’t too bad. Both Brian Wood and Ben Templesmith thanked Grant via Twitter. Let the drooling begin… now.

Lurid Media’s PCR TV has launched a new web series discussing graphic storytelling with illustrator P. Craig Russell! In this first installment, Russell goes through his comics adaptation of Pelleas & Melisande.

This is really cool for anyone who wants to learn the nuts and bolts of pacing sequential art. Giant freaking embedded video window after the jump.

[Via Lurid Media.]

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Warner Home Video has released an interview with the Academy Award-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, who will play Hippolyta in the upcoming Wonder Woman animated film set to be released March 3, 2009.

QUESTION: Did you prepare for voicing the Queen of the Amazons in any special way?

VIRGINIA MADSEN:  Well, I prepared this morning by writing several edicts for my son (laughs). Honestly, I love when I get to play these characters that are bigger than life. There are roles in animation that I never get to do in real life – and it appeals to my ego as an actor to play the Queen of Everything (laughs) Hey, I’m honest. I admit it.

Hippolyta has a really wide range – I use a lot of notes when I play her. She has a larger, more regal voice. I liked the range we use to create her vocally, and the way that she was written. It’s not that she’s over the top, but she’s just a very, very big character.  And I don’t usually get to do that on onscreen.

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Asylum Press, having offered free comics for anyone signing up for their online newsletter within the first twelve days of December, has extended their offer!

Now, anyone who signs up at asylumpress@aol.com before Jan. 31 will receive three free comics!

Among Asylum’s catalog is Warlash, Asylum of Horrors, and Ren and Stimpy co-creator Jim Smith’s Deadly Are the Naked.

Well, this is only for one comic shop, but according to Brian Hibbs of San Francisco’s Comix Experience, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was his top-selling book of 2008.

To me, this says a lot. Buffy, of course, was a cult-favorite series with a ready-made obsessive fanbase, and Joss Whedon was One Of Us (a comic lover). What could be more natural than Buffy comics, right?

Buffy‘s also the type of heroine that us women comics-readers dream of seeing more often. She’s smart, sassy, screwed-up, but in control. We love her because she kicks ass, of course, but also because she makes mistakes, dates the wrong boys, loses her confidence, gets overconfident…you get my drift.

I’d love to see the breakdown, if it were possible, of the buyers of Buffy comics. How many are Buffy fans who just buy the comics because they’re still in mourning for the end of the series? And how many of those buyers slowly start looking around for other comics, and suddenly find themselves hooked?

On the other hand, how many Buffy buyers rolled their eyes at first at the idea of a Buffy comic, but came around because they liked Whedon’s other work, or because Brian K. Vaughan was writing it?

Either way, the fact that Buffy was a top seller proves that there’s a market for good female characters, and a market to bring non-comics fans into the comic shop.

Now, can I get those Twilight comics? I want Jasper backstory written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Steve Dillon, and Alice backstory written by Alisa Kwitney and drawn by Ryan Kelly…

As I wrote in Dial H for History last month, one of my biggest concerns about the Watchmen film was that it played like a typical action-laden superhero film. However, Japan’s trailer for the new film now posted on Trailer Addict makes me wonder about my earlier assertion.

For those of your keeping score, we not only saw Richard Nixon in this trailer, but also witnessed Fidel Castro and the Kennedy assassination — as well as the revelation of the mysterious second shooter on the grassy knoll. Hint: Lee Harvey Oswald has nothing on this embodiment of the American Dream. But if the political undertones are as heavy as in the trailers, this might very well be a deeper film than we ever expected from Zack Snyder.

We’ll save the analysis and let this speak for itself:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK, NY —-  In the February 2009 issue, DISCOVER will launch the first in a series of comic strips illustrated by famed comic creator Peter Bagge.

Bagge’s “History of Science” comic will present the characters and events of science history in a fresh and irreverent light, sure to capture the eye of DISCOVER’s 6.7 million readers.

DISCOVER’s February issue hits newsstands January 13, 2009.

About DISCOVER
DISCOVER poses essential questions and tackles highly topical, sometimes controversial issues on the cutting edges of science, technology and the future. Every month, DISCOVER features the groundbreaking innovators and seminal thought leaders who are shaping tomorrow’s world today. DISCOVER
is published by Discover Media LLC.

DISCOVER is online at DISCOVERmagazine.com.

McG, the director of Charlie’s Angels and the upcoming Terminator: Salvation, has been snagged by Disney to helm 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo.

The film will explore the character of Captain Nemo, as he creates the undersea vessel known as the Nautilius prior to the events of the classic 1954 movie.

Disney hopes McG will start production this year. The director will receive $8 million as well as 7% gross.

[Via Variety.]

TV Rumor monger Michael Ausiello is back with his first Ask Ausiello column of the year, an he has some surprising news about Smallville:

Question: Any news as to whether Tom Welling has signed on for another season of Smallville? — Scarlett
Ausiello: Yes, there’s news, and it’s good. Some would even call it, ahem, super. According to a well-placed Smallville insider, Welling is nearing a deal to return for a ninth season. I’m told they’re just ironing out some minor deal points, such as should the Brinks Truck pull into the actor’s driveway, or just unload on the street.

Now, the possibility of a ninth season was in heavy doubt earlier this year, but with a return to the Superman mythos, including new exploration by Clark, the coming of Doomsday and soon The Legion of Superheroes, and of course, the best ratings the show has seen in the last few years, it appears season 9 is a go, and Tom Welling is ready to stay with the show.

The bigger question now is, where do they go from here? With the coming of The Legion, Clark will know with absolute certainty of his destiny as Superman. He’s now been in Metropolis primarily for a couple of years, and several characters from the DCU, including other heroes of the Justice League have already shown up (Green Arrow was even made a main character this season). And, of course, Tom Welling is himself over 30 now. The logical step would be to have him actively becoming Superman, as has been hinted this season, but would change the fundamental premise of the show and go against the show creators’ “No Tights, No Flights” credo. With their departure at the end of last season, however, it seems like the show may well be on its way to presenting a live action Superman on TV for the first time since 1997.

Star Wars toys that teach you how to use The Force?  A fantasy you say?  No longer!  Okay, well, you’re not quite using the force.  But you are using the power of your frickin’ mind.

The Force Trainer comes equipped with a headset with functions analagous to EEG reading technology; your brain waves will be the engine for the movement aspects of the game.

More games made in this fashion are on the way, including Mattel’s Mind Flex.

I don’t know about you guys, but this reminds me a bit of The Riddler’s scheme from Batman Forever.  While I’ll give the toy giants credit for not ultimately wanting to make Jim Carrey a super-genius, I have to say that I’m not sure if we’re ready for a generation of psychically advanced warriors to be running about.  Are we?

Happy Awesomeversary, Chris Sims!: Invincible Super-Blogger Chris Sims has just returned from a week-long sabattical—which I believe he spent travelling the country consulting the best legal minds about the best strategy for straightening out the rights for ROM: Spaceknight—in time to celebrate The ISB’s fourth Awesomeversary (which is a lot like an anniversary, only more awesome). And how exactly does one celebrate a fourth Awesomeversary? Why, with 30 entries into Sim’s annual 30-second Recap Contest, in which readers provide crudely illustrated parodies of comics stories from “Batman R.I.P.” and Secret Invasion to “Kraven’s Last Hunt” and Watchmen that take about 30 seconds to read (hence the name). The above is from Marc Haines’ Identity Crisis For Dummies, one of my personal favorites of the lot. Be sure to visit The ISB and check ‘em all out, and wish Sims an awesome awesomeversary while you’re there.

Dilbert is recession-proof, even if Dilbert’s workplace isn’t: Barron’s interviews Scott Adams about his strip and its current storyline.

I now hate whoever failed to greenlight the Batman, hero of the hobos story: Bookslut conducts a prosaically headlined but wide-ranging interview with Jason Lutes about his work on his signature series Berlin, among other topics. Among all the ground covered is the possibility of Lutes doing superhero work—it’s “like squeezing blood from a stone. No, a better analogy is beating a dead horse. Because the horse, at this point, isn’t even there. It’s like a putrefied puddle”—and a decade-old Batman proposal he’d made:

The Batman was going to be called “The Ballad of the Bat.” And it was going to go back to the beginnings of the Batman during the Depression. It was going to treat him sort of like a folk hero and really try to treat it realistically in the context of what was happening in America then. [He would be] this mythical defender of the downtrodden and I imagined a bunch of hobos sitting around a fire singing “The Ballad of the Bat” about this guy who would save them from the railroad dick who was trying to keep them off the trains or whatever. Sort of like a Woody Guthrie character… (laughs) Totally absurd. It was going to work though.

Meredith Gran’s Octopus Pie comic puts current newspaper strips to shame with its fun style and fantastic expressions. Her writing is good enough to avoid the typical “wacky cast of characters” pitfalls and her art is strong enough to keep the pages varied and engaging. The characters are rich and their experiences run the gamut from goofy to emotional in a way that always rings true.

The time lapse videos of her digital drawing process (which has since evolved, but is wonderful regardless) are a fascinating bonus.

The first in a year long series of articles depicting the exciting life of a comic book creator — these are tales of High Adventure!

FUTURE PERFECT PART 1: INTER DIMENSIONAL TIME TRAVEL PHONE CALL

Comic book creators are known for their sedentary lifestyle: Working at their desks, playing video games and eating. This is all true, we do do that, but there is more to it. You see, our lives are also full of mystery, romance, imported cheeses and yes… adventure. I mean, how else can we write what we write unless we have lived it?

2009 to me feels like a year where a lot of adventure can happen. In fact, I knew it was going to be. It started a few days ago when I got a call from this guy while I was at home, relaxing and reading an old Alan Moore Swamp Thing trade. You know, the first one — when he reinvented everything. He used to do that a lot back in the day. Anyway, the static on the other line made it hard for me to understand him at first. He was calling from the future, you see.

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Here’s another “Comic Con Classic” video from SDCC2008.  I don’t feel that bad this it’s just now posted to the site, as the new Greatest American Hero comic’s first issue just hit comic stores in December.

So the short version is: when I was a kid “The Greatest American Hero” was hands-down my favorite show.    Getting to meet William Katt and Robert Culp was a huge honor and trying to control the excitment of my 10 year-old self not quite believing (or not) that 20 years later I was standing there talking to them was a bit overwhelming.  I’m really looking forward to the upcoming flash animation they mention, and I can’t wait to see the direction they take the book.

You can see the video of the interview at the link below:

William Katt Talks About The Greatest American Hero and Catastrophic Comics

A few months after Comic Con I was invited to a very special “GAH” 20th Anniversary reunion live panel discussion with the whole cast and a lot of the crew including the creator Steven J. Cannel and I cannot wait to see the final product of the new movie they are talking about.

To read more about Sparks and The Greatest American Hero comic book check out Catastrophic Comics.

And yes… as a little kid my aunt really did make me a version of the suit.  I still have the cape to this day.

The final fate of the Watchmen movie could be determined next week. Later today–January 7th–Fox and Warner Bros. are scheduled to meet with the judge to discuss the next steps in the case.

As FilmEsq explains in more detail, the parties have agreed that the next proceeding should “be limited to the question of whether Fox is entitled to a permanent injunction” on the film’s distribution. If Fox were to prevail, the film would likely not be released without a settlement or action on appeal. The current date for the next hearing is set for January 20th, but Warner Bros., citing the urgency of resolving the matter, has asked for it to be moved up to next Monday, January 12th.

The question of whether the judge should grant the injunction involves some rather technical points of law. One key factor in the movie’s fate will be the judge’s perception of relative hardship. For example, the judge in the Bratz case recently decided that the harm to the manufacturer was severe enough to warrant modifying the court’s previous order to stop production and sale of the dolls.

For anyone who wants to read both sides’ arguments and their joint stipulation about the scope of future proceedings, here are some of the most relevant documents.

Sometimes, I just have to stop and remind myself why I love this gig, and why I love comics.

Right now it’s not hard. Next to me, I’ve got Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (someone read my Christmas list!), Phonogram: Rue Britannia, and The Vinyl Underground: Pretty Dead Things, just waiting to be read. I polished off Scalped #24 and Northlanders #13 over dinner, and they were worth the week’s wait.

This year, I read all of Y the Last Man, Planetary (well, aside from the long-lost final issue), a whole bunch of original graphic novels, and re-read all of Local and Sandman about three times. Each. Don’t even ask how many times I re-read Transmetropolitan. It was an election year, that’s all I’ll say.

My job is awesome.

Mark Waid talks Hexed!

Mark Waid also has a special message to retailers on Hexed as well.

Or, if you like your news as text…

I’m not usually one who likes to report on reporting, but we have something of an ongoing discussion here recently. The state of print media has been called into question more seriously over the past several years, as the internet continues to expand and things like iPhones and Blackberrys allow people to be directly connected to a constant stream of information. Whether it’s monthly comic books, newspapers, or magazines, no corner of print seems entirely safe.

After recent rumors, and several months of closeout sales by Ziff Davis Media following their Chapter 11 filing last summer, What They Play had a story today saying 1UP.com, the online source for video game news tied to long standing magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) (and until recently several other magazines) has been sold. The buyer is Hearst Corp, who already owns and operates UGO.com, itself reputed to have had financial difficulties in the past several months, including layoffs and long time contracted employees being reduced to freelancer status. Hearst’s plan, according to the report, is to fold 1UP into UGO, re-expanding the gaming section of the site. EGM comes along as part of the sale, and Hearst plans to make the issue currently in production the final issue of the magazine.

Now, 1UP.com has confirmed the sale of the site and its related properties, but has yet to comment on the future of EGM. As the sources got the first part of the story right, odds are the rest is, as well. The magazine was started in 1989. It leaves in its wake Gamepro and Game Informer as the last two major multiplatform gaming magazines published in the U.S.

UPDATED: January 7:

Joystiq has a list of employees laid off as a result of the merger. Included in the list are Shane Bettenhausen and James Mielke, two high profile EGM employees, including the now former Editor-in-Chief of EGM. This is noted as confirmation that EGM is, in fact, done. The full list can be seen here.

SCI FI Wire, SCI FI’s news division, has created an expanded expanded news site outside of SCI Fi’s main page called scifiwire.com. Here’s what the SCI FI Wire staff has said about the new site:

SCI FI Wire is hot news about movies, TV, games, books, top celebrities and more. Red-carpet photos. The newest movie trailers. Sneak peeks at upcoming TV shows and seasons. Exclusive on-set interviews. And with the team behind SCI FI Weekly, we’re about to add all sorts of new content: Top 10 lists, exclusive Q&As, satire, dispatches from the front lines of science fiction, fantasy and the supernatural, funny stuff and a lot more.