Too many offensive highlights in this one, as the DC Bullets handled The Daily Beast 35-10 in New York Media Softball League action on Thursday evening.

Believe it or not, the Bullets did trail at one time, as The Daily Beast scored three times in the top of the first to take an early lead and put pressure on the DC bats.  The bats responded in a big way.  Successive one-out singles by third baseman Mike Lorah, shortstop Adam Schlagman and leftfielder Andrew Arnold loaded the bases in bottom one.  Back-to-back walks to first baseman Brian Cunningham and second baseman Joel Press forced home two runs, and then SCF Lauren Fries lined a two-run single to left to take the lead.  Four batters later, second baseman Christine “CNap” Napolitano grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out, and ten batters after that pitcher Larry Ganem lofted a soft popup to short to end the inning.  Twenty-one hitters came to the plate, totaling sixteen hits (including a homer by rightfielder Vince Letterio, a triple by 2B Joel Press and two triples by 3B Adam Staffaroni) and two walks en route to a seventeen run opening frame.

The Bullets batted around in the second again, tallying eight more runs.  Daily Beast added one in the third, and DC responded with five.  The comic book makers tacked on three more runs in the fourth, and two in the fifth.  The Daily Beast rallied to score six times in the seventh before the Bullets closed out the game.

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Today on CBR, Marvel Comics editors Tom Breevort and Jordan D. White have announced an Ant-Man and The Wasp limited series starting in November, written and drawn by Hack/Slash creator Tim Seeley.

This, of course, not being famous married (and dysfunctional) Marvel couple Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, but current, Secret Avengers Ant-Man Eric O’Grady and Pym, who took up calling himself the Wasp as a tribute to his fallen wife a while back in the pages of Mighty Avengers.

The CBR interview reports that the series puts the pair against A.I.M, who have hijacked one of Pym’s invention. It’s set for three issues.

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

Latino Review, generally a pretty reliable source as far as film rumors go, reported an interesting one Friday: that two Green Lantern sequels are already in development, and will be in production by the time the first one hits theaters next summer.

Not completely surprising, but this is: according to the article, “sources say” Warner Bros. wants one in 2012 and one in 2013, meaning a Lord of the Rings trilogy-esque pace of three GL films in three years.

As the post points out, if true, this almost surely means an expansion of the Green Lantern movie universe, and, hopefully, big-screen debuts for Corps members like Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, Guy Gardner. Why stop there? Let’s end the work week daydreaming about a big-screen Isamot Kol, or who’d we cast as Soranik Natu.

The Green Lantern feature film is scheduled for release on June 17, 2011 and stars Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong and Peter Sarsgaard.

News came Wednesday that Paul Dini, one of the minds behind Batman: The Animated Series, was joining Brian Michael Bendis and the Man of Action crew (Joe Kelly, Joe Casey, Steven Seagle and Duncan Rouleau) on the already impressive Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series creative team.

This afternoon, Marvel confirmed what the exact title for each of them will be on the show, and how the division of labor breaks down. Dini will be “Creative Consultant” and write the pilot; the Man of Action guys are “Supervising Producers,” directing the write staff, generating scripts and editing stories; Bendis, writer of each and every issue of the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, will serve as “Consulting Producer,” overseeing the whole thing.

Jeph Loeb, as announced in June, has a supervisory role given his job as head of Marvel TV. Full Marvel press release after the jump.

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In case you missed the news coming from Hasbro at San Diego, the well-liked Marvel Legends line of action figures returns in 2012. While that yet seems like a long way off, it’s sensible on a couple of fronts (namely, in that it coincides with the release date of “The Avengers”). To tide fans over, three two-packs exclusive to Toys R Us arrive this fall (Valkyrie/Hulk, Winter Soldier/Black Widow, Deadpool/Warpath). I thought that we might take a look at what Hasbro might do to ratchet up the chances of reborn success for the line, which admittedly stumbled a bit in the years after it transitioned to them from Toy Biz.

Step One: Variant Control

Though this was more of a problem under Toy Biz, it bears repeating that there shouldn’t be variants for every figure in an assortment, particularly when those variants create an entirely separate character. Look at Marvel Legends assortment 12, the Apocalypse Series. There were seven figures and SIX additional variants, although only one variant, the White Sasquatch, technically made a separate character. It was worse in wave 15, the MODOK Series. There were six figures and SEVEN variants; of those variants, three actually created separate characters that were in some cases (Destroyer, I’m looking at you) all but impossible for some fans to get.

Hasbro did manage to excise this practice when they took over, and I’d recommend that they stick to it. I don’t think that throwing in a variant of a many-costumed character like The Wasp is crazy. I do find it unreasonable when you take a character that everyday collectors might want and intentionally design a circumstance where that figure offers ridiculous difficulty to find. Stay fan-friendly.

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Update: Hi there, your Site Editor Lucas Siegel here. This was actually a correction of a mistake. you see, the DC Comics App is a 12+ App. That means it can’t have anything rated as “Mature Content” available for in-App purchase. However, if you purchase a Vertigo book on the Comics by ComiXology App or on the website, Comics.ComiXology.Com, it will sync into your DC App via your account. No mystery, no conspiracy, just the way the apps were designed so that they could offer/market the DC App as an “All-Ages” application, and still have the mature imprint comics available digitally.

Hope that clears up any confusion.

Original Story: Hrm, it’s quite the vanishing act that even Harry Kellar would be mystified by.

Over at the comics for ipad blog , came an interesting observation that was brought to my attention about DC’s app, and the Vertigo comics are gone. “Nope, no Fables or The Unwritten or DMZ anywhere.” Though, the most recent digital releases of those titles are still available on the comiXology app, as well as the PSP.

So the question is , did DC pull the Vertigo books because of the mature content? I mean, yeah, Unwritten isn’t exactly kid-friendly. So did they feel it would get more exposure and would sell better exclusively on comiXology as well as to the PSP crowd? Is there workings of a deal in motion for them to be distributed elsewhere? Is it a temporary move? Will Vertigo have their own app?

The last scenario is the most unlikely, but it’s a shot.

Everyone in the American comics industry can stop worrying about the American comics industry now: Is that the take away from this ICV2.com piece about comics sales being up and graphic novel sales being down? Probably not. But that’s what I’m going to take away from it at the moment, because I don’t like thinking about numbers.

Jim Woodring is a genius, and he has the cake to prove it: The Seattle Stranger has awarded Seattle cartoonist Jim Woodring, whose latest was published by Seattle publisher Fantagraphics, their 2010 Stranger Genius of Literature award, which is a cake. It doesn’t look as good as a statuette on the mantle, but it’s edible.

“Today is the day for all my easiest-to-achieve, most unimpressive dreams to come true!”: Savage Critic and One of Caleb’s Favorite Writers-About-Comics Abhay Khosla had a rough day at work and decided to go into his comic shop and buy all of the comics. Well, comics are expensive. And there are a lot of ‘em. So he thought he’d just buy all of the new Marvel ones. But Marvel published a lot of comics this week. So be just bought all of the ones A through H (excepting a reprint and one written by a vocal bigot) and is currently blogging his way through that portion of the alphabet. Part one and part two, which can be clicked upon at your earliest convenience.

“Just $30,000?”: No offense to any journalists in the reading audience (nor to whoever wrote this stupid headline), but having spent the better part of a decade as a newspaper reporter and editor, $30,000 sure seems like a hell of a lot of money for a job that amounts to typing and talking to people. Even the hard stuff tends to be things like staying awake during meetings and feigning interest in the most boring subjects in the world, like zoning and tax issues. You know who deserves more than 30K a year? Waitstaff and grocery store check-out people—that is hard work.

“Am I crazy to love Superman Returns just a little?”: Yes. Yes you are. Well, eccentric at least. I thought Routh made a good Superman and Kevin Spacey made a good Gene Hackman and, um…well, that’s all I got.

“Michal Cera Vs. Jason Schwarzman: Who Would Win?”: Hmm, here’s an interesting twist on The Hulk vs. Superman line of debate. Which of the not-particularly-tough-looking actors could take the other in a fight? (And isn’t it weird that a film even exists in which the climax involves characters played by those two actors fighting to the death?). Also under the heading of recent-articles-about-Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is this Boston Herald piece.  I like tthat headline, but I have a feeling someone else has used it already.

“Is Quentin Tarantino Directing ‘The Shadow?’”: I don’t know, but can anyone—even Tarantino—hope to top the 1994, Alec Baldwin-starring version? And am I being facetious? (Yes, yes I am).

All of these look better to me than Batman: Arkham Asylum: But then, I am old. Check out Chris Sims’ reimagination of various comics characters as the stars of NES games: Archie, Hellboy, even Cerberus is included.

I’m sorry, how many millions?: Here’s something to keep in mind when you hear discussion of how comics aren’t mainstream, or they don’t make comics for kids any more, or how it’s a shame that comics just don’t have the sort of mass acceptance they used to. The latest volume of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, a known comic,  has an initial print run of 3.2 freaking million. (Via Journalista!)

Does…does that mean that I won an Emmy?: Sorta…? Jeff Smith’s Boneville blog has news that director Ken Mills’ documentary The Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, Bone and the Changing Face of Comics has won a regional Emmy for best documentary. I’m not sure how Emmy’s work, exactly, but is it like an Eisner for best single issue, where everyone involved shares in the prize? Because the back of my bald head is in The Cartoonist, at the 3:52 mark. Does that count? Did I just win an Emmy?! I think that’s close enough. I better go update my resume…

The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans
Written & Illustrated by Rick Geary
Published by NBM

Rick Geary’s latest true-crime account – he’s been authoring these heavily researched re-creations of history’s startling, scandalous or unsolved crimes for nearly three decades now – takes readers to New Orleans in the years 1918 and 1919, when six people were murdered and another six grievously wounded by an unknown assailant.

In The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans, Geary’s careful eye for detail and rigorously researched backgrounds pay off in spades.  Opening the book with an overview of New Orlean’s history, dating back to its founding by French settlers, the transfer of power to the British, back to the French, the Louisiana Purchase, the arrival of the Cajuns and the birth of Fat Tuesday (otherwise known as Mardi Gras), Axe-Man establishes the flavor and culture of its setting quickly and clearly.

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Last week, the world bore witness to the trailer of the Yogi Bear feature film. As these things tend to happen, a new movie poster was released this week. And, um, well:

I think that qualifies as a quadruple entendre, right?

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!

Digital Spy was among the media outlets to note that the CW network would like to find another DC superhero comic book adaptation to take the place of the (too?) long-running Smallville, which began as a series set in Superman’s home town, focusing on his adventures as Superboy…even though he wasn’t called Superboy, didn’t dress like Superboy and never even used all of his powers. Over the seasons, the show’s focus has drifted here and there, and more and more elements of the DCU appeared, but it looks like it’s finally time to call it quits and start over with something different.

Assuming CW execs and TV producers are scanning comics blogs for ideas, I thought I’d offer some suggestions. The quickest and easiest route would be to simply take a comic book with a completely TV-ready premise, a comic book series written as if it were a TV show, and go with that. Gotham Central, the 2003-2004 series about police officers in Gotham City, seems like the most television ready, as it was basically a police procedural in which Bat-villains and vigilantes occasionally guest-starred or cameoed. In other words, it’s a comic book belonging to a very popular television genre, with an element of a very popular film genre.

Greg Rucka was one of that series’ writers, and his 2003-2006 Wonder Woman run used to remind me of a TV series—which isn’t a compliment for a comic book, really. While his Wonder Woman still wore the bathing suit and did wondrous feats of derring-do, the majority of his storylines seemed to revolve around her work as an ambassador, complete with an embassy and staff. There was a lot of walk-and-talk hall scenes devoted to politics and bureacratic concerns, and even much of the mythology was given a more realistic veneer, so that when gods and goddesses interacted with Wondy or one another, they did so in human form, wearing street clothes.

But maybe what the CW liked about Smallville was that it was titled after, and originally set in, a particular piece of fantasy geography? If that’s the case, let’s look at some DCU locales as possible TV show settings, eliminating the more exotic ones as too pricey for network TV (Hawkworld, Oa, Skartaris, Atlantis) and the already-covered (Metropolis, Gotham).

Let’s see here….

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How do you spell ambitious animation? When it comes to DC Entertainment — S-H-A-Z-A-M!

Warner Bros. Animation has announced that on November 9, they will release the DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection, a DVD with animated takes including Superman and Captain Marvel, The Spectre, Green Arrow and Jonah Hex.

The Superman/Captain Marvel cartoon, which will last 22 minutes, shows how young Billy Batson crosses paths with Clark Kent… only to gain mysterious powers from an elderly wizard, as well as a murderous foe in the form of Black Adam. Jerry O’Connell will reprise his role the Big Red Cheese, while George Newburn will reprise his role as Superman from the Justice League cartoons.

In addition, you’ve got 10-12 minute shorts including the Spectre animated short written by Steve Niles; the Greg Weisman-penned Green Arrow adventure, in which he protects a 10-year-old princess from the League of Assassins; and Jonah Hex, voiced by one of his biggest fans, Thomas Jane.

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

This is Spider-Man former love interest Gwen Stacy. The artist is legendary Brian Stelfreeze, which can be noted by his signature on the right side. This is in my first sketchbook and was drawn at DragonCon two years ago (Brian being an Atlanta artist, it’s almost a pre-requisite to make it to that show). I hadn’t been collecting art that long, just a few sketches here and there, mainly at one-day conventions like the, now defunct, Atlanta Comics Expo.

I’ve always seen other people’s sketches and commissions, and at the time the idea was almost foreign to me, almost surreal. “Wait, I give you X amount of money and you’ll draw what I want?” Fan-tastic! After the notion hit my brain, I was off and running. While I do have more than a few sketchbooks now, I’d like to offer a few pointers about the hobby for those who might be interested in getting into it and don’t really know the ropes. (more…)

OK, let’s get this out of the way — calling this a “teaser trailer” is probably stretching it. The movie is still two years away, it hasn’t started filming, and we only got official confirmation of the main cast and director (Joss Whedon!) a week and a half ago at Comic-Con.

That having been said — this is 41 seconds of Samuel L. Jackson narrating over an animated logo. And it may very well be 41 of the most exciting, scintillating, potentially pants-wettening seconds of your life. Just try not to squeal with delight when the movie Nick Fury says things like “a day unlike any other” and “Earth’s mightiest heroes.” And if you’re not totally stoked by the time you get to view the “A” logo in full about 24 seconds in, well, we’re revoking Quinjet access.

First shown late last month at Comic-Con International: San Diego, this actually surfaced on the official site of Imaginary Forces, the company that produced the clip. It’s not there anymore, so it might not last anywhere long. Watch now, duh.

The Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, scheduled to debut on Disney XD in fall 2011, already boasts Brian Michael Bendis (writer of all 145 issues and counting of both iterations of the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book) as a writer and producer, plus the “Man of Action” team of Joe Kelly, Joe Casey, Steven Seagle and Duncan Rouleau on board as writers and executive producers.

As if things could get any more appealing, today MTV’s Splash Page blog broke news that perennial fan-favorite writer Paul Dini will also be on the show’s creative team. The very same Paul Dini that was an integral part of Batman: The Animated Series, considered by many to be the pinnacle of superhero animation. (Not to mention his work on Superman, Justice League and Lost.) No one would blame you for getting excited right now.

The Splash Page interview with Dini also gives the most details that have thus far been released on the show — Dini says “We’re going to change a few things — nothing too dramatically,” and that “there are elements that are going to come directly from the comics, and there are elements that are just going to take it into an entirely new and different direction.” Read it in full here.

Fresh from Fred Van Lente’s Twitter account — an image from Steve Kurth for the upcoming September issue of Iron Man Legacy.

And it looks like it’s a full-page splash of the Pride, the villainous parents of the Runaways… Does this mean we’ll see any of Niko, Chase and the gang? Speculation, activate!

Over at the Hollywood Reporter, it mentions that FX has ordered a comedy pilot from the makers of “Reno 911″ which sounds like a sci-fi parody in the vein of a funny Star Trek.

Set a thousand years in the future, “Alabama” follows the crew of the space ship USS Alabama as they continue a seven-year mission to maintain interplanetary peace.

“The show will follow the heart-pounding action as our crew visits hostile planets, meets alien life-forms, and tries to have sex with each other in their tiny, metal bunk beds,” FX said. “Alabama” is created by (and stars) Reno alum Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant and, just like Reno it will be part-scripted and part-improvised. Garant and Lennon are executive producers along with Peter Principato and Paul Young.

Ready for zombies, manly confessions and Hank missing out that he’s a professionally-certified crybaby?

I’ll be you are. Because Adult Swim has released the trailer for the new season of the Venture Bros.