Interested in process pieces? If you have the one of the most celebrated graphic novels of all time, what happens when you have to remaster it?

Corey Breen, senior pre-press artist at DC Comics and all-round nice guy, has written a blog post over at Master Digital Coloring detailing the whole experience of working on Absolute Watchmen. With 1980s artwork having to be reworked for an oversized format, it proved to be a tough process — here’s a highlight:

Since we no longer have the original art to older comics such as this, what we have are the pages in the film library.  Back in the day, all our books were shot using film on acetate.  Our film library has extensive books all on film, and when we need to reprint them, it is shot from that film, and made digital for us to use.  But this poses a lot of problems.  Since the film is well, film, and it is old, when you make a digital file from film, it can be dirty, have scratches, and have sections missing, depending on how well the film was originally made.  This was the case with the Watchmen ‘film’ we wound up having to use.

Breen goes on to discuss the main theme of remastering Watchmen — not noir, but moire, an unsightly and jagged form of lines that unfortunately crops up with high-res images of old half-toned art. It’s a cool process piece, especially for anyone interested in the production side of comics. Give it a read!

Wanna be a successful cartoonist and/or comics/prose hybrid literary sensation?: Then you should probably enroll at the University of Maryland and get a job doing cartoons for the school’s paper The Diamondback. It worked for Frank Cho, Aaron McGruder and Jeff Kinney.

Apparently, the New York Times list-makers don’t even crack the covers of the books they put on their lists: I quit paying attention to the NYT‘s goofy comics bestsellers lists as soon as I got over making fun of their dumb names and dumber press announcement, but manga expert Deb Aoki hasn’t, and she notes another reason to shake one’s head sadly at the lists. Illustrated prose book Death Note: L Change the World apparently ranked #4 on the manga bestseller list, despite not even being manga, or comics of any kind.

“I used to feel as powerful as a locomotive, but I’m running out of steam”: Augusta Chronicle columnist Glynn Moore reflects on his own mortality in relation to dressing up in Superman t-shirts and towel capes with his grandson in this only mildly depressing piece.

Great, now I’m hungry: On Drawn and Quarterly’s blog, the unlikely source of inspiration for Seth’s Nancy Vol. 1 collection cover design stands revealed.

“I cannot wait until Williams III leaves in a couple months time…I wonder how many people are going to admit that if it weren’t for Williams’ III art, this would be just one or two steps above Outsiders“: In his latest post, guy-I-link-to-alot Tim O’Neil reviews the latest issue of ‘TEC, along with several other recent releases, and discusses how muscular Reed RIchards should look.

Find out more about Global Freezing here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or at ComicsByEgg.com.

Today saw the release of the DVD for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the much-maligned summer blockbuster based on the enduring Hasbro toy line. I resisted seeing this when it was in theaters over the summer because the previews made it look like baby vomit, and I had no desire to spend ten bucks and a couple of hours in a movie theater to have my intelligence insulted, no matter how desperate I was for air-conditioning. Thank goodness for Redbox, because I only had to pay $1 to have my intelligence insulted in the comfort of my own home.

Actually, I didn’t think G.I. Joe was really all that bad. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a lousy film, it just wasn’t the crime against humanity I was expecting it would be. It helped a bit that I didn’t go in to the movie expecting to see the G.I. Joe from my childhood. Director Stephen Sommers and crew aren’t interested in that G.I. Joe, they would prefer to create a G.I. Joe for the new generation. And that’s fine, and in that sense, they’ve mostly succeeded. I can see kids going street rat crazy for the movie, what with the nonstop violence, copious amounts of explosions, not-very-funny one-liners and hot ninja-on-ninja action.

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Cyborg’s name never strikes me as all that boring and prosaic until I hear it next to the name of another cyborg comic character, like Deathlok, who has one of the most metal names in the Marvel character catalog. Deathlok returns this week in Deathlok #1, the first part of a new, seven-issue Max series written by Charlie Huston and penciled by Lan Medina. Cyborg, on the other hand, seems to have the week off, which is probably for the best–he won’t be getting shown up by Marvel’s more bad-ass cyborg.

Who else will be waiting to see you at the comics shop tomorrow? Join me after the jump to find out!

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Via the Hollywood Reporter, Marvel’s profits for this quarter have gone down a significant amount, mainly due to the fact that there was not a movie released this year. Last year, they had two: “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” and that helped generate plenty of additional revenue.

“Despite the absence of any Marvel Studios feature film releases in 2009, Marvel continued to deliver solid operating performance across all our operating segments,” Marvel chairman Morton Handel said. “Anticipation for the high profile “Iron Man 2″ feature film continues to build, and we are focusing our efforts on the film’s May 2010 release and the related licensing opportunities.”

I’m sure also, with the addition of the “Iron Man” sequel, they have “Thor”, “The First Avenger: Captain America”, and “The Avengers” on the horizon, so this is probably a momentary lapse.

Check out freshly-minted Jaroo, a Hulu-esque site that’s carrying some beloved, and some extremely obscure, animated programs. One of the most popular on the list is surely “Inspector Gadget”, though I’m sure many fondly recall “Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors”, “Captain N”, or “Super Mario Bros.” They get serious points from me for including “Pole Position”, the bizarre supercar/spy show based on the extremely limited racing game of yore.

In a rather diabolical turn, there is no embedding available. However, I will link you right to the anime “The Wonder Wizard of Oz” series here.

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!

(Click the image above for a larger version of the strip.)

Hello Blog@teers!

Welcome to the lastest webcomic addition to Blog@Newsarama, WORLD OF HURT – The Internet’s #1 Blaxploitation Webcomic! This is the first episode of The Thrill-Seekers, WORLD OF HURT‘s first story arc.  WORLD OF HURT is updated weekly, and the most recent adventures may be found at my website, www.WorldOfHurtOnline.com.

What is WORLD OF HURT? It is a black and white serial adventure webcomic inspired by the Black action movies of the 1970s and the classic newspaper adventure strips.  WORLD OF HURT focuses more on Blaxploitation’s potential for raw, urban crime stories and drama than the campier aspects of the film movement.  It follows the exploits of a Black trouble-shooter named Isaiah “Pastor” Hurt as he dispenses street justice in the city of Pointe Blanc.  The Thrill-Seekers involves Pastor’s investigation into the disappearance of a young co-ed named Alicia Patterson.

It is a distinct honor to be join the Blog@Newsarama family.  I will be posting strips every Tuesday and Thursday.  I hope you return, and I look forward to hearing from you.

- Jay Potts

It may have been short-lived, but the 13-episode run of the Ruby-Spears Superman animated series is getting another lease on life, as it is being rereleased on DVD today. Warner Home Video sat down and talked with the animators on their experience working with the larger-than-life battles of the Man of Steel.

QUESTION: Why were there only 13 episodes to the entire series?

JOE RUBY: “I think the problem for us was our timeslot. It turned out 8:30 in the morning was a killer for Superman. Only the little kids were up, and they don’t understand Superman as well as the older kids. It wasn’t for 4- to 5-year-olds”

QUESTION: Was there a guiding theme to the series?

KEN SPEARS: “I think we were true to Superman to begin with –  we produced a show that the audience expected Superman to be. He was the tried and true Superman, That’s who they wanted to see – that’s the feedback that we continue to get today.”

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With the new V kicking off tonight on ABC, it’s worth taking a look at the original. The first V mini-series aired in 1983; the two-parter did big ratings, and was followed by V: The Final Battle. Apparently, there was wasn’t much finality, as that mini segued into a regular series. It was short-lived, but for a while, there was nothing quite like it on American TV.

Here’s a look at the intro to the first regular series episode, which picks up literally seconds after the conclusion of “Final Battle”. And, in the interest of fairness, I decided to skip showing THE BIG MOMENT to avoid potential spoilers for unsuspecting viewers of the new version.

This just in, via Marvel, with the ominous phrase, “What price victory?”

Considering the last time Steve and Tony met, it wasn’t the best of meetings — but with Tony struggling with the aftermath of World’s Most Wanted, could these one-time friends reunite? Let us know what you think!

Cash for a clunker? Joss Whedon seems to think so.

With tongue obviously in cheek, Whedon drafted an open letter to… well, the Terminator owners, offering $10,000 — that’s right $10,000 — to buy the franchise and, well, bring it up to snuff. Here’s some highlights from Whedonesque:

1) Terminator… of the Rings! Yeah, what if he time-travelled TOO far… back to when there was dragons and wizards? (I think it was the Dark Ages.) Hasta La Vista, Boramir! Cool, huh? “Now you gonna be Gandalf the Red!” RRRRIP! But then he totally helps, because he’s a cyborg and he doesn’t give a s#&% about the ring — it has no power over him! And he can carry it AND Frodo AND Sam AND f@%& up some orcs while he’s doing it. This stuff just comes to me. I mean it. (I will also offer $10,000 for the Lord of the Rings franchise).

2) More Glau. Hey. There’s a reason they’re called “Summer” movies.

3) Can you say… musical? Well don’t. Even I know that’s an awful idea.

4) Christian Bale’s John Connor will get a throat lozenge. This will also help his Batwork (ten grand for that franchise too, btw.)

Of course, this is definitely a gag — Whedon told Entertainment Weekly “mostly, it’s just me being a dumb-ass, because that seems to be what I do best — I’m not even very good at that. So, no, I do not think they’re going to call me and say ‘Congratulations! We’ll have that $10,000 now.’” But still — what do you think a Joss Whedon Terminator franchise would look like? What do you want to see changed in the films and television shows? Let us know!

[Too much time Photoshopping done by yours truly]

Image Comics has announced that for Spawn #196, it’s going to be an old-school Image team taking on that warrior from Hell.

In addition to series creator Todd McFarlane handling inks and second series artist Greg Capullo handling layouts, Image partner Rob Liefeld will be handling the pencil work for this issue! With the conclusion of ENDGAME, this year’s worth of storylines will tie together Detectives Sam and Twitch, Bill Winston’s suicide, with the mystery of new Hellspawn Jim Downing’s awakening.

“I was looking for good artistic help, and remembered inking over Rob on his New Mutant covers back in the Marvel days, and most recently a little bit of IMAGE UNITED,” McFarlane said in a press statement. “I thought it would be a fun experiment to see what Capullo layouts, Liefeld pencils and my inks looked like together on a handful of pages.”

The book is due out November 25th, and will cost $2.95.

Vote for Petrelli? Looks like he’s gotten a recall.

Nikki Finke has announced that Adrian Pasdar, who played Nathan Petrelli the first few seasons of Heroes, has been let go from the show.

One the one hand, Pasdar’s power set was among the most visually interesting of the show’s first season. That said, considering his increasingly dark characterization — as well as his character eventually being completely annexed by that of Sylar — it’s not too surprising he’s been cut.

Via the Hollywood Reporter, Fox 21 and Platinum Studios are prepping Jorge Vega’s horror/western comic for a television series. Glen Morgan (writer/producer of “Final Destination”) is adapting Vega’s story and script.

For those of you readers unfamiliar with the story, it centers around a man, Abner Meeks, who is cursed with this revolver that severely tortures Meeks if he doesn’t kill once a day.

“Gunplay is one of those rare combinations of fantastically created characters and wonderfully told narrative, which creates an inventive canvas from which to play,” Platinum Studios chairman and CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg said. Fox21 President Chris Carlisle added, “It is a unique story of an ordinary man who must live with an extraordinary curse.”

Gunplay was the winner of the 2007 Platinum Comic Book Challenge, beating over two-million entries.

No date has been set for the show’s release.

Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Hawk and Dove, turned 82 today. Congratulations, Steve!

[Via HiFi]

Just to be clear, folks — I’m not saying that England has banned a graphic novel. No, it’s a lot worse — the actual graphic novelist himself is no longer allowed in the county.

London resident Nikil Singh, author of Salem Brownstone: All Along the Watchtowers, has been held in his birth country South Africa for the past five months, due to new immigration rules.

According to Vicious Imagery, Singh’s problem stems from the fact that he doesn’t hold a degree, making him “underqualified” for a Tier One Highly Skilled Visa — despite the fact that, as a former British journalist, he clearly knows English, and the fact that his book has sold out its previous runs. Singh has lost his home in London due to his effective deportation, and is still fighting.

“The refusal of Nikhil Singh’s application for a Highly Skilled Worker Visa … is short-sighted and prejudiced towards the graphic novel medium, and plainly ignores his exceptional merits,” said the director of Comica Festival, Paul Gravett. “One look at the extraordinary craftsmanship of his contributions to the Salem Brownstone graphic novel would convince anyone Nikhil is not only ‘highly skilled’ but a visionary artist of international standing.”

Karl Kerschl has posted up an awesome sketch this weekend of that fiercest of X-Men, Wolverine, and with this image — forgive the pun — you better believe he tore up from the floor up:

Kerschl quipped that this image is probably of Logan frustrated that he lost his keys, but I say if that would mean we could see this guy take on Wolverine more often, I’d probably toss those keys down the sewer drain myself. What do you think, Rama readers?

Variety has announced that the newly-formed Vigilante Entertainment will be developing Warren Ellis’ Black Summer.

The book, published by Avatar Press, chronicles the struggle of the Seven Guns, a team of scientists who transformed their bodies into weapons to battle back the police.

Vigilante, meanwhile, is a new group founded by Hichram Benkirane, formerly of the French comics publisher Les Humanoides Associes. Benkirane still holds control of the properties he created at Humanoides, including Fragile, Miss: Better Living Through Crime, and The Book of Jack.

According to Variety, Knowing’s Ryne Pearson is slated to write the adaptation. This is yet another bit of good news for Ellis, as his series Red was recently optioned, and is slated to have Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis attached.