We’ve had a lot of occasions in the past few days to ponder all of the ways that the Disney/Marvel will eventually play. One of the things that I thought long and hard about was the concept of a perfect collaboration between the two entities. Interestingly enough, I think I’ve found it.

In my opinion, the perfect Disney/Marvel collaboration (or more to the point, the perfect Pixar/Marvel collaboration) would be an adaptation of the Eric Shanower and Skottie Young Oz books.

First of all, consider the reach of “Oz” itself. We all know the echoes of the original film in pop culture, and that doesn’t even take into account the novels themselves or all of the other adaptations in film, animation, drama, and literature. There’s already awareness of the story in general, but there’s never been a Disney take on Dorothy’s original journey.

In terms of the creators, writer Eric Shanower is really peerless when it comes to Oz. He’s already written several novels in that universe, and he brings a learned eye to the proceedings. As for Skottie Young, his designs are obviously outstanding, and an animated rendering of his style would certainly be something to see.

When it comes to the animation, I say Pixar because, frankly, they don’t miss. I think that the creative powers there would get the Shanower/Young approach in a fundamental way, and I believe that they would then voice-cast the hell out of it. (As for constant presence John Ratzenberger? The Tin Woodsman.)

So what do you think, readers? We can talk about the relative merits of a “Runaways” series on ABC Family another time.

I’m just going to go ahead and say it: I think X-Men: Misfits Vol. 1 (Del Rey Manga) is the single best X-Men story I’ve experienced since Grant Morrison brought his run on New X-Men to a close.

Writers Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman and artist Anzu have a lot of definite advantages over the creators toiling away in Marvel Comics’ X-Men mines, of course—they’re not beholden to decades worth of continuity or the designs and characterizations of other creators, and they don’t have to line-up what they’re doing with what, say, the people over in the Avengers office are up to that month.

In this manga-style “remix” of the X-Men (to use the back of the book’s own word for this particular sort of reimagining), the creators are free to take whatever core concepts they think work best, and rebuild the X-Men franchise from the ground up as they see fit. They do an incredible job, and it was downright uncanny how they managed to make the X-Men into something that seemed completely new while still retaining much of their essential je ne X quoi.

Telgemeir and Roman retain the deep adolescent appeal of the mutants as stand-ins for kids who feel awkward, persecuted or alone (but, it turns out, are actually much more special than anyone else), and, if anything,  broaden the appeal beyond the normal metaphors and make it feel a little more universal.

They also retain basic elements that worked well from throughout the various eras of the comics: Xavier and Magneto’s differing views on on how humans and mutants relate, school-as-superhero team, Kitty Pryde as point-of-view character, and so on.

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After securing their spot as the #4 seed in the New York Media Softball League playoffs, the DC Bullets suffered a letdown in their final two games, both against #3 seed BusinessWeek. Following last Thursday’s 12-8 loss, the Bullets finally (after three re-schedulings for weather) concluded their 2009 season with a rematch against BW this past Tuesday.

The 10-3 loss wound up not being much of a contest. While BW scored five runs over the first two innings, the comic book makers batted the minimum number of hitters. The only base runner, Editor Brian Cunningham (1-2, BB, run), who singled leading off the second, was erased on a double-play grounder.

Director of Direct Sales Vince Letterio (1-2, run, RBI) singled with one away in the bottom of the third, and letterer Sal Cipriano (1-2, RBI) hammered a double into left field to plate the run. But missed opportunities followed: In the fourth, Associate Editor Adam Schlagman (2-3) and your humble blogger Mike Lorah (1-3) both singled to open the frame, but three outs ensued. In the sixth, Marketing Publications Representative Rickey Purdin worked a lead-off walk, and moved to second on Schlagman’s two-out single, but Lorah’s pop-up ended the threat.

To the Bullets’ credit, the pitching (Manager, Editorial Admin Larry Ganem) and defense rose to the occasion, keeping BusinessWeek from further scoring through the fifth inning. Schlagman had a diving stop and threw out a runner at first from his backside, while Jay Kogan and Letterio both made a terrific running catchs in the outfield alleys. In the sixth, however, the big BW bats rose up again, doubling their score with a five-run outburst. A few close plays – if my glove was an inch longer or Adam an inch taller – might’ve limited the damage, but the bounces weren’t going DC’s way that inning.

The Bullets trailed 10-1 going into the last half of the seventh. Looking to save a little face and show some fight, Disney’s (thankfully under contract with the Bullets through season’s end!) Doug Harrison (1-3, run) got things started with a base hit, and Brian Cunningham took a base on balls. Another knock by Accounting Coordinator, Edit Admin Larry “LP” Vollano (1-3, RBI) drove Doug home, and letterer Pat Brosseau (1-2) singled to load the bases with no outs. After a line-out to short, Vince Letterio’s fielder’s choice scored Brian, but erased Pat (who executed a nasty take-out slide!). A final pop-up ended the rally and the Bullets’ 2009 regular season schedule.

The Bullets finish 2009 with a 10-9 record, including their 4-6 mark against the more competitive teams of the NYMSL. The team next matches up against NYMSL #1 seed (either High Times or Wall St. Journal, pending WSJ’s final game against WNYC) on Saturday, September 12^th at 1:00pm on the Hecksher Fields in Central Park. Comic fans are encouraged to come out and support them Bullets as they try to upset the standings and bring home the NYMSL title.

The Bullets and the Bonghitters split the season series, with the Bullets winning 5-4 and the High Times squad taking the rematch 10-1. Wall St. Journal topped the Bullets twice, 6-3 and 14-6. The winner plays immediately afterward against the victor of the BusinessWeek-Wall St. Journal/High Times match-up that will be occurring simultaneously on the neighboring field. Losers go to the consolation game.

Coming in November from Image Comics is the Chew: Taster’s Choice trade paperback. Ordinarily, a collected edition being rushed off the presses a little quicker than usual because of high sales numbers on the floppies wouldn’t be all that interesting–but in the case of Chew, arguably Image’s most successful new title launch since The Walking Dead, the solicitation also touts a “special introductory price.” The paperback, collecting five issues of the comic, is $9.99, which means that even after tax many direct-market customers will pay less than $10 for the book once their discounts are factored in.

Given that Boom! Studios’ most popular non-licensed title right now, Mark Waid’s Irredeemable, got a similar $9.99 treatment for a four-issue collection (along with the simultaneous release and 99-cent price point for the series’ fifth issue), one has to wonder if publishers besides Marvel and DC are seeing smaller price tags on the first trade as a good way to hook potential new readers. Given the serial nature of comics, it’s a well-known phenomenon that readers will stick with books for long periods of time, because of a relationship they develop the the characters or creators. For many books, the secret is just getting those fans to open up their first issue in the first place. Once they’ve done so, books that remain good for long periods of time–like Starman, Preacher or The Walking Dead–develop substantial cult followings and have potential for licensing and longevity that’s rarely matched in the creator-owned or non-Superman/Batman/X-Men market.

What do you think? Would a $10 price tag make books like The Life and Times of Savior 28, The Perhapanauts or Jennifer’s Body more attractive? Discounting your personal preferences (I think we’d all like to pay less for our books), do you think a lower price point will be an effective selling tool for some of the more obscure titles? And if it catches on, what “Big Two” titles would benefit from a discounted rate on the first trade just to convince people to try them? I’m thinking $9.99 volumes would be a great strategy for marketing the collected editions of DC’s new “second feature” titles.

Because y’all can’t get your stuff in on time

New York:

Sunday, Sept 6:

The party begins at Bergen Street Comics from 2-6 where artists Paul Ciaravino, Zees, and writer Jef UK will be celebrating the release of the second issue of the Americans UK comic book with live art, signings and FREE BEER!  Free to the public!

Then Americans UK head around the corner to Southpaw to pump fists and shake hips at the Super Hero and Rockstars party organized by burrowsink.com ( http://burrowsink.com/Super-Heroes.html ), featuring a range of performances–from hip hop, to rock n’ roll, live painting to spoken word.  It’s a badass night, forrealz!  Doors open at 8 PM, show starts at 9 PM.  $10 cover.

Please visit www.americans-uk.com to listen to AM/UK’s full-length record Rocktronic,  download the “I, Ape-Man” EP for FREE, and check out FREE downloads of the AM/UK comic book!

Pittsburgh:

For Immediate Release (September 3, 2009) Stan Lee has graciously agreed to do a limited meet-and-greet with a few select fans at the Pittsburgh Comicon!

The event will take place at the Pittsburgh Comicon on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 at 9:15 AM! There are only SIX availabilities! Each of six winners will be escorted by duly authorized Hero Initiative personnel, where they’ll meet Stan the Man the con’s double-swanky VIP Green Room! You can get a picture with Stan, and you’ll also be able to get TWO Stan Lee autographs at this event on YOUR items of YOUR choice!

These six availabilities will be auctioned off by the Hero Initiative via eBay.com starting Thursday, September 3. Hero’s eBay page is located at http://qurls.com?iH020

Here’s the five Ws.
WHO: Stan Lee, co-creator of the Marvel Universe, and such beloved characters as Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and even Fin Fang Foom!

WHAT: A meet-and-greet appearance with Stan. Only six people will be allowed in via this auction, and you can get two autographs as well, AND a picture with Stan!

WHY: Because Stan is a jolly good fella, and he believes in and supports The Hero Initiative!

WHERE: The appearance will take place in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Comicon. You must be present at the convention and report to the Hero Initiative booth if you’re a winner.

WHEN: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 at 9:15 AM

IF YOU WIN…
• Please come to the Hero Initiative booth at the Pittsburgh Comicon promptly at 9:00 AM. Enter through the Pittsburgh Comicon’s VIP entrance. Bring your PayPal receipt and photo ID to claim your berth. You will be escorted to the shindig by Hero Initiative!

BOOM! Studios has announced that not one, but two of its recent releases have totally sold out!

28 Days Later, Michael Alan Nelson and Declan Shalvey’s semi-sequel to the film of the same name, is moving on to a second printing, the comics company announced.

Additionally, the second issue of their adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? has also burned its way to a second printing.

Sheep will have a Bill Sienkiewicz “negative” cover that comes out later this month, while 28 Days Later will have a Blood Red variant Sean Phillips cover out in October.

Avatar has released a preview for the upcoming Warren Ellis/Garrie Gastonny collaboration, Supergod, via Bleeding Cool.

The book ominously takes a look at a superhuman arms race, as humanity — knowingly or not — tries its best to create a messiah in its own image. Based on Ellis’ introduction to the book, this certainly does not go well. Of course, it being a Warren Ellis book, this has healthy heapings of science, cynicism, and someone trying to have sex with an inappropriate object. It’s practically a law.

Supergod is scheduled to be released this November.

The New York Post has reported that despite some “cash-flow” problems that have sent their leads scrambling for discarded movie deals, the Spider-Man musical may have found its hero…

…Bono. According to the Post, the musician-cum-fundraising-mogul has gotten some of his deep-pocketed friends to lend a hand. It seems to have worked, as the Post states stagehands are getting back to work.

Still, Michael Riedal isn’t convinced:

Whether it’s wise is another question.

Money is only one of the show’s problems.

“Spider-Man” will be the target of the new theater season. Every vulture in Shubert Alley will be at the first preview. If the thing’s a mess, the poisonous word will spread quickly.

Advance ticket sales — the lack of them, that is — is another problem. Even before the show ground to a halt last month, tickets were hardly selling at a clip. It’s said that the advance is not much more than $1 million, pathetic for a $45 million musical that’s supposed to be on the boards just five months.

“We couldn’t sell the show before it shut down,” says a top ticket agent.

The show is supposed to start previewing this February.

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!

Upcoming comics-related events. As always, send yours to newsaramaevents [at] gmail [dot] com. I’d love to have some events that aren’t in NYC or LA!

New York:

Brooklyn Book Festival, Brooklyn, NY.

“The ACT-I-VATE Renaissance”

Sunday, September 13
3:00pm – 4:00pm
There is a comic book renaissance happening in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and members from both DEEP6 and XOXOs Studios, featuring Dean Haspiel, Mike Cavallaro, Tim Hamilton, Joe Infurnari, Simon Fraser, Molly Crabapple, and Mike Dawson [among others], will discuss the genesis of ACT-I-VATE, the premier webcomix collective, and sneak-peek their upcoming print anthology, THE ACT-I-VATE PRIMER. Moderated by Jeff Newelt, who will also announce two new members to ACT-I-VATE.com

For more info on ACT-I-VATE, please visit: http://www.act-i-vate.com

California:

WHO: JAIME HERNANDEZ of LOVE & ROCKETS fame
WHAT: LOCAS II Book signing and discussion with writer Ben Schwartz
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 12, 5PM
WHERE:

Skylight Books
1818 N. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Tel: 323.660.1175

Yesterday DC Comics released the third issue of Justice League: Cry For Justice, James Robinson and Mauro Cascioli’s miniseries about Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Green Arrow Oliver Queen forming their own, more aggressive and proactive Justice League team.

This issue contains a scene in which the superheroes capture the villain Prometheus, and torture him for information. The scene was among the pages that DC released as a preview earlier in the week.

It’s a perfect example of why I hate seeing serious, real-world issues injected into super-comics.

Make no mistake, I don’t think there are any topics that DC and Marvel should forbid their writers from ever exploring under any circumstances, but when they address topics as serious as torturing prisoners, and whether it’s moral, ethical or effective, a topic that is the source of very important debate in our country right now, then they damn well better do a good job of it. It can’t just be something tossed off between the normal men-in-tights melodrama and punching and exploding.

The problem with superheroes is that they automatically make any topic they address at least somewhat ridiculous. Regardless of the age the majority of their audience now, or the people creating their stories, they were created as children’s characters and they will always be, at least on some level, cartoon characters.

Sure, Geoff Johns has done really great work on the Green Lantern monthly, and it’s definitely a comic by and for adults now, but that doesn’t mean Hal Jordan isn’t also the character from that goofy Super Friends cartoon. Adding dead-serious elements like torture into a story featuring him almost inevitably makes it seem as if a writer is making light of those elements. Unless it’s a really, really well-written comic which can skillfully avoid the inherent difficulties of Justice Leaguers Hal Jordan, Ollie Queen and Ray “The Atom” Palmer resorting to torture.

And Robinson clearly isn’t ignorant of this. He does have a character ask if hurting Prometheus until he agrees to talk is torture, and if it’s crossing a line. That character is then rebuffed by others saying it’s okay to torture a murderer because it’s more fair than killing them, or if they hurt your feelings badly enough.

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Warner Home Video got a chance to sit down with the voice of Lex Luthor himself — Clancy Brown. The longtime voice behind the Metropolis mastermind gave his thoughts on Lex, Superman, and Batman as characters, his road to voice actor stardom, as well as the upcoming Superman/Batman: Public Enemies animated feature, coming out on September 29.

QUESTION: After nearly two decades voicing Lex Luthor, are there any challenges to creating this character?

CLANCY BROWN: I’m pretty comfortable doing the voice of Lex, so the only challenges come from the script – and the Public Enemies script is tremendous. I think it suits everybody involved. It suits Kevin (Conroy). It suits Tim (Daly). It suits me and the voice characterizations that we created, you know, back right before the Civil War. I think that was when we started doing this. So there’s not really much challenge to it anymore – it’s just a lot of fun now, and especially when you get to do it with Kevin and Tim and Andrea (Romano) and Bruce (Timm).

QUESTION: Can you remember your initial audition for the role of Lex Luthor?

CLANCY BROWN: Warner Bros. had been doing Batman and it was very successful, so they were gearing up this new iteration of Superman. They decided to sort of go outside the box as far as talent was concerned, and I had made it known that I wanted to do more voice work. I wasn’t very good at it, but I wanted to get better.  I enjoy cartoons and animation, and comic books were part of my life growing up. So they said “Come on in, We’re trying to cast Superman.” So I went in and just blew them all away with my Superman. And then they said “Here’s an idea (he laughs) nobody has ever thought of: What if Clancy played the bad guy?” (he laughs harder) So I rolled my eyes and said, “Can I, just one time, play the good guy?” And Andrea said, “No, you can play Lex.” So I said, “Fine, I’ll play Lex.” Honestly, Lex is fun. I’m very happy to be Lex. It’s a lot more interesting than Superman to me.

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The Hero Initiative needs YOU — to buy Ralph’s.

The comics charity has worked out a deal with Ralph’s so that if you sign up your store card with the Hero Initiative, they will get a small donation every time you shop!

How does that work? Let’s let Jim McLauchlin explain:

1) Sign in to Ralphs.com with your email and password
1a) If you have not created an account, create one now! Takes about 60 seconds!

2) Go to:
https://customer.ralphs.com/ManageCommunityRewardsStep1.aspx

3) Complete the three-step process; When signing up, our NPO # (non-profit organization #) is: 80680, and we’re under our corporate name, “A Commitment To Our Roots.” Don’t let it throw ya!

4) Now go get a pie.

This will also work at Food Co. and Food 4 Less stores in Southern California, Nevada, Illinois, and Indiana. This is very much like a March of Dimes, people — the more dimes they get, the more they can help creators in need. So hop to it!

I chalk it up to prep time.

The Telegraph reports that Batman has nudged past Spider-Man and Superman to be the most popular superhero in the UK. The results were tabulated by the sci-fi site SFX.co.uk.

“No matter how often he’s reinvented – a noir detective in the 40s, a camp icon in the 60s, a gothic Knight in the 80s – he’s always the coolest, most iconic and recognisable superhero there is,” said SFX.co.uk editor Dave Golder.

The thing that particularly interested me, however, was the fact that Captain Britain cracked the top ten, making a respectable #7. I guess it’s proof that whatever Marvel was doing with that character overseas, it worked!

Or maybe he won because HIS PARENTS ARE DEAAAAAAAD. Or something.

Via Comics Worth Reading, I found this post by Sean Kleefeld on the technological setup of Zuda comics. Being a bit of a media nerd, I read with interest and have some comments of my own.

Kleefeld starts off with a critique of browser compatibility, which hasn’t been a problem for me with Zuda (I use Flock, a Firefox-based browser) but his thoughts on Flash and “push” vs. “pull” models I think have some relevance on a wider scale.

He says:

See, there’s a larger problem with using Flash to deliver web comics, beyond iPhone users not being able to partake of the content. The model Zuda is using is what you would call a “pull” — Zuda is actively trying to pull readers to their site on a regular, recurring basis to read their comics. They have to reach out to users, get their attention, and convince them to click over to their site.

Many (I daresay “most”) webcomics these days instead opt for a “push” model. That is, they push their content out to the user via some form of syndication (RSS, XML, etc.) and the reader can view the content on a device and format of their choosing. Maybe it’s through a feed reader, maybe it’s through a customized iPhone app, maybe it’s part of a portal set-up someone created, maybe something else altogether. The point is that people can move the content around quickly and easily.

This seems to me to be symptomatic of the comics industry at large and its attitude toward new readers. Comic shops are wonderful things, but they are often not welcoming to the casual viewer (I know plenty of notable exceptions) and more importantly, many people never set foot in a comic shop–because why would they? They don’t read comics.

With the Web, and with “push” models like Kleefeld describes, comics have an excellent opportunity to reach out to people who wouldn’t set foot in a comic shop–and wouldn’t go looking for Zuda comics. If you could embed, move, link to individual pages, and other features that he mentions in the post, there would be many more opportunities to attract new eyeballs to the comics.

The problem is that viewers on one site are easy to calculate and easy therefore to charge advertisers for or to monetize. Embeddable video is not easy to monetize. Yet the media environment we are in, as many, many theorists have noted, is increasingly one where the price point is “free” and whether we like it or not, we have to think about different ways to support art and artists than the advertising-and-paid-content models we’re used to. (For some interesting thoughts on monetizing new media, check this post out.)

“Let’s do some gratuitous violence.” I’m a huge, HUGE fan of this movie. True, their “Irish” accents borderline between faint and Lucky the Leprechaun, but for some reason this movie was like some secret password in film class if you were new and wanted some instant friends.

I even named my dog Rocco, named after David Della Rocco, the MacManus’ tragic sidekick.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m talking about Boondock Saints II: All Saint’s Day, the sequel to the cult classic The Boondock Saints. It’s about two Irish brothers who have an epiphany and feel the vengeance of God flowing in their veins and decide to go after mobsters. That’s basically the gist of it.

I’m sorry. I’m having a difficult time holding in my excitement.

FYI: the trailer is the red-band version and contains a lot of NSFW language. It’s still awesome, though.

“The Man” is hitting the big screens, reports Variety. Color me excited.

The production on “Lobo” begins sometime early next year. The character originated in 1983 in “Omega Men,” written by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen. In the film, he will be a seven-foot tall, pale-skinned, and heavily muscled anti-hero who drives a pimped out motorcycle, and lands on Earth in search of four fugitives who are bent on wreaking havoc. Apparently, he’ll have a teenage girl as a sidekick.

This seems like a perfect fit to me. So who would you like to see fill the massive boots of Lobo? Personally, I’d love to see Mickey Rourke.

I’d never read one of Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo’s famed Asterix books before, and figured it well past time to correct that oversight. I knew that Asterix is a famed children’s adventure series, but that’s really about all I knew going in, so I had a little hesitation, but plenty of anticipation as well.

In Asterix and the Great Divide, Asterix and his allies find themselves aiding a neighboring village that is split by two men’s claims of leadship – literally split. They’ve dug a trench through the middle of town! Schizophrenix, the only townsperson to not choose a side in the great debate, has the barrier slicing directly through the middle of his home, which adds some light slapstick when he need to cross to the kitchen or bedroom.

As the names may suggest, Asterix and the Great Divide is heavy on the silly puns, and it’s definitely a book for kids. The humor leans toward the silly, the villains are comically inept, and the art bright and clean. But it’s a very sharp book for kids. The heroes win through a combination of innate virtuosity and creative problem solving. Artistically, Uderzo’s fun designs, bright colors and slapstick pacing suit the story nicely, keeping things just as lively and upbeat during the talking sequences as during the battles.

Asterix and the Great Divide is a lark – a fun, fast-moving, twist-filled adventure. For this reader, it skews a little younger than my tastes, but I enjoyed visiting the land of Gauls and expect that I’ll be purchasing the whole series when I have children of my own. Asterix is sharp comics, and I’m glad I was able to discover it at my local library.

This week’s release of Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon #152 sees Malcolm and Angel trying to figure out how to resurrect their father, while the Golden Age Daredevil and the Li’l Wise Guys cope with the fallout from their battle with Mako the Shark Man last issue and the new Overlord battles with…well, with Savage Dragon, whom he, too, has been working to bring back to life. A little confusing? Sure. Erik Larsen sat down with us to suss it all out. (more…)

The Spectacular Spider-Man has survived a lot in his day — but could a corporate merger be the thing that squashes the itsy bitsy spider?

Showrunner Greg Weisman announced on his blog that the Sony-produced show — which currently runs on Disney’s XD Channel — is still up in the air for a possible third season, due to some behind-the-scenes deals with Sony and Marvel’s new owner Disney.

Last Thursday (8/27/09), Vic Cook and I were informed that in exchange for some concession vis-a-vis the live action Spider-Man features, Sony returned the television rights (including the animated television rights) for Spider-Man to Marvel.

IGN caught up with Weisman, and he said “Sony is NO LONGER involved with The Spectacular Spider-Man. I’m informed that Marvel can now produce the series, but of course, they don’t have to.” On the plus side, this could mean crossovers with characters such as the Human Torch or Daredevil villain Kingpin — on the other, however, Disney could decide to wipe the slate clean and make their own series.

I’m hoping Marvel and Disney stick with the current operation — not only is there continuity with the current Disney-watching audience, but this series strikes just the right balance between Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s original series and the refreshing, comedic Ultimate Spider-Man. And where else would you hear such a catchy theme? Sound off, Rama readers!