“Not since the original Superman way back in 1978 has any superhero movie released in December has gone on to be a major hit”: Josh Tyler of Cinema Blend notes that the troubled Green Hornet movie has pushed its release day way back into December of next year, and thinks this means it’s committing “superhero suicide.” Um, did anyone actually think a Green Hornet movie was ever going to be a “major hit?” Because, if so, I woulda been happy to set ‘em straight, like, five years ago.

“Just a couple of years ago, it was tough to find good graphic novels for the K–4 crowd”: Writing for School Library Journal, Peter Gutiérrez notes how times have changed in the bound-comics-for-the-youngest-readers market, and assembles a list of great graphic novels for little kids. I read and enjoyed an awful lot of books on this list. Hopefully that means that they’re also effective all-ages comics, and not that I read at a fourth grade level.

And he drew it in just two weeks?!: This story about Kate and Jules Feiffer’s April picture book Which Puppy? is similar to earlier stories on their collaboration, but is well worth a look because a) It’s always fun to read about great cartoonists and  and b) there’s a neat little video showing the Feiffers together, and Jules Feiffer drawing.

If you thought elements of Speedy II’s story seemed like after school special material, good news!: The former teen prostitute, HIV-positive version of Green Arrow’s sidekick will apparently be appearing on Smallville this season, and producers have plans to deal with her “dark” and “sordid” past. It’s not an after school special exactly, but it is a TV drama, so there’s that. Huh. Speedy II. I don’t watch the show, but I know we do reports here pretty frequently and thus I see all the heroes who are guest-starring in certain episodes. By this point, every character in the DCU has appeared on Smallville save Angel and The Ape, Sugar and Spike, Space Cabby and The Heckler, right?

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Robert Downey Jr. — recently reported as an Iron Detective Vampire for his increasing number of film franchises — will be teaming up with his Iron Man director John Favreau to put on a show with Cowboys & Aliens.

As you might expect, Cowboys & Aliens pits some cowpokes against some laser-beamin’ extraterrestrials. The film, based on the Platinum Studios book by Fred Van Lente, has been in development since 1997, when Universal and Dreamworks first acquired the property.

Yet despite the high concept, this project has bounced around seven different teams of writers — and the question remains with Platinum’s legal woes with the Wowio system, exactly how this might impact their former stable of writers and artists.

This week DC launches two new series that I find completely perplexing.

One is Red Tornado, a six-issue miniseries written by Kevin VanHook and illustrated by Jose Luisí and J.P. Mayer and starring the on-again, off-again Justice League member who is also an android.

The other is Magog, an ongoing series written by Keith Giffen and drawn by Howard Porter and John Dell, starring the recently introduced pregacy version of a minor character from a mid-nineties Elseworlds story whose sole reason for existence was to symbolize the Image Comics super-characters of the time in that particular story.

Both characters probably have some fans, and each of the creators do as well, but neither character seems popular enough to guarantee a hit (that is, they’re not Batman or Hal Jordan), nor are any of the creators in category of so-hot-people-will-buy-whatever-they-work on (that is, none of ‘em are Geoff Johns or Jim Lee).

So I’m not exactly sure why DC is publishing either book. But then, I’m not a comics publisher, I’m just some jerk who second guesses comics publishers constantly.

And speaking of which, more highlights from this week’s batch of new comics, after the jump.

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If you like what you’ve read so far (c’mon, how can you not?) totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

Via Topless Robot, this poster is apparently going to be a special animated feature teaming up the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with their ’80s counterparts:

Oh. My. Sweet. Shell. The 1980s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were easily my gateway into this field, so you better believe I’m excited. The only downside is apparently the ’80s Turtles will have new voice actors. Still, I’m stoked for this animated film, which will come out later this month in honor of the Turtles’ 25th anniversary.

Nothing makes me happier than a new Vertigo series. Well, not much, anyway. So Sweet Tooth #1, along with Greek Street #3, as well as Northlanders and the tail end of Young Liars this week, leaves me plenty to be happy about.

And since I do read books that aren’t Vertigo, there’s The Boys #34 and North 40 #3. And if I had extra income (which I most certainly don’t have right now) I’d be buying the Absolute V for Vendetta because really, it’s necessary, and the DMZ trade that hits today because that arc was bloody amazing (as well as bloody and amazing).

But, you know, what am I missing?

Eagle One and Starz Media have announced that they will be creating motion comics based on Capcom’s Street Fighter II, as well as Voltron: Defenders of the Universe.

The motion comics will be broadcast on the SyFy Channel September 28th, and then will be available for download through iTunes, XBox Live, and the Playstation Store.

They’ve been persecuted by a world that fears and hates them. They’ve made a diaspora, made a new home for themselves. And they’ve gotten organized.

I’m talking about the X-Men, but the metaphor could easily go another direction. Marvel’s merry band of mutants have been seen through a number of prisms over the years — ranging from the Civil Rights Movement to homosexuality — so I was particularly interested when I read an interview with Uncanny X-Men writer Matt Fraction last month:

Nrama: Initially, when the word went out about “Nation X” , it felt a little bit like the old “Factor Three” type of thing where mutants were going to rise up and be the third world power like back in the sixties…

Fraction: Right.

Nrama: But how is that possible? There are only a handful of them left.

Fraction: That’s what everyone said about the Israelis too.

Now, for the full disclosure: I’m a Jewish writer. I support Israel — I’m friends with members of the IDF. I do agree with Israel’s right to exist, and I’m not looking for a fight with anyone that feels otherwise — and if that’s what you’re here for, I’m not going to try to dissuade you otherwise, but there are other blogs for that sort of debate. So for me, reading this interview made me wonder: are the X-Men the new Israelis?

When you ask yourself the question, the similarities in Matt Fraction’s writings certainly pop out. This week’s Dark Avengers #8, for example, uses some particularly connotative language when Cyclops says “we reject Norman Osborn’s pogroms against mutants.” Yet this sort of metaphor has been in Fraction’s arc since the beginning. Not unlike the antisemitic backlash of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mutants were attacked around the world during Messiah Complex. Following the near extinction of the first mutant birth in years, Scott Summers led the X-Men to create their own Promised Land — in this case, San Francisco.

It’s in so doing that the X-Men have taken a bit more of a militaristic tone, not unlike the Zionist movement in Israel’s early history. Throughout Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia, there has been the appearance of Cyclops and Norman Osborn as political grandmasters, as metahuman generals each trying to position their troops to outflank the other. Indeed, the X-Men have become better organized and more militarily effective under Cyclops’ reign, just as the early Zionists built up the Israeli military into the hardened fighting force it is today. Under Xavier, the X-Men certainly scratched their potential — but after the House of M decimated their ranks, Cyclops has taken a more pragmatic approach, picking specific X-Men for specific missions, never laying all his eggs into one basket. He doesn’t think in just individual battles — Cyclops is about winning the war.

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Whether or not the movie was your cup of tea, last year’s Angelina Jolie vehicle Wanted brought in some big bucks, even if it was significantly different from the Top Cow source material.

So you can imagine my surprise when, on my way to seeing Inglorious Basterds (fun film, by the by) this weekend, I saw this, which I bring to you via the wonders of my camera phone:

Another movie called “Wanted”? It certainly evoked the comic a bit — similar font, dude running away with two guns. (Then again, couldn’t you say that for a lot of action flicks?) For comparison’s sake:

So some sleuthing online didn’t give me a whole lot of information, besides the meaning-laden tagline “MAFIA WANTS HIM DEAD, POLICE WANTS HIM ALIVE.” Apparently, this Indian film starring Salman Khan will be hitting India later this month — no word about when it might hit the U.S. (or at the very least, the theatre I was attending). What say you, Rama readers?

The Scream Awards, to me, are a combination of the MTV Movie Awards and the Saturn Awards. They represent the best in horror, fantasy, and sci-fi, but voted on by the fans. Though the Screamies (?) also include comic-related categories such as Best Comic Writer, Artist, Movie, etc. Also, it should not be that much of a shocker that shows like True Blood (which IS a damn good show), BSG, Lost, Fringe and movies such as Watchmen, Star Trek, Twilight, Let The Right One In have dominated this year in nominations.

I think it is a bit cool to have a nomination (ie Best Supporting Actress) that combines both TV roles and movie roles.

I watched last year’s award show, mainly just to see how many awards The Dark Knight picked up (it was seven).

The 2009 Scream Awards airs October 27th, on Spike.

That’s right! For those of you who thought the two Fantastic Four movies starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis as comic’s first family were subpar, your prayers have been answered.

According to Variety, the F4 are getting a reboot! I, for one, didn’t mind the movies. I think Gruffudd and Chiklis played their parts exceptionally well. Now, the kicker is, the reboot will be produced by Academy Award winner…Akiva Goldsman. If the name doesn’t sound too familiar, he won the Oscar for his Adapted Screenplay for A Beautiful Mind. He also is the mastermind behind the Batman & Robin script. The writer (with apologies for the earlier mis-read) is Michael Green, who is known to comic fans as a writer from both Smallville and the upcoming Green Lantern film, as well as writing Superman-Batman at DC Comics.

Details are unknown at this time to whether or not the original cast, along with Julian MacMahon, will be asked back.

Perhaps even more interesting is the note that Fox has the rights to Fantastic Four and X-Men movies “in perpetuity.” This means they keep the rights to making movies based on these franchises (and a few others) as long as they keep making them. Thus, this official announcement was likely rushed because of some OTHER news that you may have heard yesterday.