Our friend and fellow blogger Carla Hoffman, along with her husband Lance, remains in critical condition in Irvine, Calif. after being severely injured in the Tea Fire a few weeks back. This story in the OC Register talks about their condition and includes an update from Lance’s mom:

Lance Hoffman suffered second-degree burns on his arms and face and third-degree burns on his hands. Carla Hoffman sustained second-degree burns on her arms and hands and third-degree burns on her thighs.

They are being kept in medically induced comas so doctors can treat their wounds. They’ve both had to undergo surgery to their third-degree burns and will later have multiple skin grafts.

Linda Hoffman said doctors told her it will be months before the couple can go home.

“They’ve had good days and bad days but they are still stable,” she said. “It’s going to be a very long road.”

Also, I’d mentioned a few weeks back that we were getting together some items that we were planning on auctioning off on eBay, and the funds we raised would be donated to Carla and Lance. We plan to start some of those auctions next week. We’ve also set up a blog where we’ll post information on the auctions in the weeks and months ahead.

I want to thank my fellow Blog@ colleagues for their contributions, esp. Stephanie Chan, who is doing the legwork in terms of getting everything listed. I’ve also heard from other bloggers and comic pros who are looking to donate items, and I want to thank them for their generosity as well. IDW’s Scott Dunbier and Bully the blogging bull have donated some really nice items already, and there will be more to come.

If you’re interested in donating something to the auction, drop me a line. And if you’re just interested in making a monetary donation, you can find information on doing that here.

Over at the Comic Geek Speak forums, retailer James Sime highlights an independent book that he recently took note of, APE’s Super Human Resources, thanks to their marketing efforts:

I got this in the mail today. 7 days before my orders are placed. These guys really nailed the world’s best timing with this one (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten these kind of things too late for initial orders, huge waste of money!). The package was addressed to my shop, with a big fat “ATTN: James Sime” on the front of it. That’s nice, I like to know they give a crap who is going to be spending his hard earned American dollars on their book. And although I won’t use this poster, other retailers probably will, and I definitely appreciate the money and effort that went into the package.

Sime goes over other things they did right at the link above.

Rick over at Cable & Tweed turned me on to the fact that this week’s episode of Heroes featured quite the cornucopia of Jeph Loeb books in a scene that took place in a comic shop where guest star Seth Green worked. Loeb, of course, worked on the show until he was fired a few weeks ago.

You can watch the episode for yourself over on NBC.com, unless of course you don’t live in the United States.

It’s been about two and a half years since Blog@Newsarama was born, when myself, Kevin Melrose, Graeme McMillan, Tom Bondurant, Michael May, Shane Bailey, Chris Hunter and Stephanie Chan joined the Newsarama team “to bring you an engaging, thought-provoking and fun blog that you’ll want to come back to every day.” Since then we’ve added a few names and seen a few people leave, but hopefully in between all the Hollywood rumors, comic industry dust-ups and just general weirdness that made its way into the blog, we gave you guys something worth reading.

It’s kind of bittersweet, then, to announce that those of us who currently write for the blog are leaving Newsarama. It’s no secret that the site has gone through tremendous growing pains over the last few months and has been moving in a new direction since being purchased by Imaginova. Behind the scenes, there’s been a lot of growing pains as well, and we’ve reached the point where we think it’s better for us to move on. Nov. 30 will be our last day, and starting Dec. 1 you’ll be seeing a new crew take over the site.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Matt Brady and Michael Doran for the opportunity they gave us and for all of their support over the last couple of years. We’ve also had a lot of great folks involved with the site over the last couple of years, from everyone I mentioned up top to our current contributors, including Chris Mautner, Lisa Fortuner, Tim O’Shea, Carla Hoffman, Melissa Krause, Jeff Trexler, Matt Maxwell and Jennifer de Guzman. And a lot of other people as well, like Neil Kleid, Wayne Beamer, Aron Head, Paul Levitz, Stacie Ponder, guest bloggers like Brian Wood and Marc Bernardin, among others … I want to thank all of them for their time and talent over the past couple of years.

This isn’t a goodbye. You’ll see many of us again, together, most likely in the new year. And we still have a few days left, but before we departed, I wanted to thank those of you who have read the blog, sent us links, linked to us, commented on what we said and even argued with us on all things comics. It’s been a blast, and wherever we end up, I hope we can continue the conversation.

Like I said, this isn’t a goodbye; it’s more like a “see you later.” Take care until then.

Johanna Draper Carlson passes on this post from artist Rich Faber, whose wife is fighting cancer. They’re facing some hefty medical bills, and Rich is selling some artwork to help raise money:

Here’s what I have in mind: I have a backlog of 15 years worth of comic book art that I’d like to make available to finance some of the expenses. In addition, while I do have work on my desk, I’m looking to take on a little extra commission work (illustration, comics, etc.), and even more ideally, new illustration projects for clients. Ongoing work would be especially cool, but I hear we might have a little problem with our economy right now, so I’ll understand if that’s not feasible at the moment.

I can make it easy for anyone to make payments for either art or work, through my Paypal account. All you need to do is email me at rich(underscore)faber(at)comcast(dot)net (sorry about the format. Just trying to avoid “spambots,” and I know you’re all smart folks who will figure out my email address), and we can get the ball rolling. If you’re interested in buying art, I can give you a general idea of what I have, and we can take it from there.

To get an idea of what his art looks like, you can check out the gallery on his website.

Jon at Metro Entertainment sent over addresses for anyone who wants to send a card or letter to Carla and Lance Hoffman, who are still in the burn unit in Irvine, Calif. after suffering serious burns during the Tea Fire. Jon suggests not sending any items larger than a letter for now, as the staff at the hospital may not have anywhere to store them. He also offered up the address for Metro, saying they would ensure any cards or letters sent there would make it to Carla and Lance as well:

Carla Hoffman
BICU, bed #4
101 The City Drive
Orange, CA 92868

Lance Hoffman
BICU, bed #6
101 The City Drive
Orange, CA 92868

Metro Entertainment
attn: Carla and/or Lance Hoffman
6 West Anapamu
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Editor’s Note: DC Comics President Paul Levitz returns to Blog@Newsarama with a look into the DC Comics Thanksgiving celebration.

by Paul Levitz

We just celebrated one of the highlights of the DC calendar. It began as a pot luck Thanksgiving lunch, gathering the staff in the conference room at 666 Fifth Avenue, over twenty years ago. Everyone brought a dish, and jammed in together. Given the limits on some of our expertise, the buffet was heavy on dessert, and included interesting selections like Pop Tarts (untoasted) and a mountain of White Castle burgers. My contribution used to be a rice medley that I’d been taught by the vegetarian nurse who coaxed us through the first weeks of my daughter Nicole’s life…it’s still about the only food I’m encouraged to prepare in the kitchen.

Anyway, with the passing of time and expansion of the DC staff, in recent years we don’t have a space that can fit us all, so we have to decamp to the Time Life Building a few blocks away, and the hodgepodge of pot luck has been replaced by a more traditional catered turkey buffet, courtesy of DC’s senior staff, to thank the team for their efforts. Our DC morale team (headed by Constance Jackson from my office) organizes entertainment, too. In the past we’ve had a talent show (you haven’t lived ’til you’ve seen Vertigo Group Editor Shelly Bond tap dance), trivia contests and even our version of Family Feud. This year it was “DC Password,” with clues relating to our mythos.

Team licensing (Tori Setian and Aram Issacs) won best dressed with Flash and Batman hoodies, but ultimately got bested by a couple of fanboys-turned-staffers, Zach Milan (from Advertising) and Greg Lockhart (from Editorial Administration). Jesus Reyes (Creative Services) and receptionist/playwright Yasmin Bowles got “most expressive” for their intense reactions to the clues. DC theme loot was had by all, with the grand prize being invites to the NY Comicon freelancer party (explains why editorial didn’t field a team–they’ll be there anyway).

It’s the nature of our work that any member of our staff can make a big difference with a good idea, or by spotting an error early enough to keep it from being published. Because of that, and because of the energy and dedication of our team, it’s easy to remember to be thankful for them…and good to share a meal and tell them so.

And while I’m at it, let me pass along the thanks of the DC staff to the Newsarama readers for your year-long support. The comics you buy (not to mention movies and TV shows you watch and all the collateral goodies) allow us to work with these great characters, and do interesting jobs. Personally, I’ve avoided having a real world job for my entire adult life, and I’m deeply grateful.

From all of us to all of you, have a happy Thanksgiving.

Marvel editor Axel Alonso pitch hits for his boss Joe Quesada this week in Quesada’s regular column over at MySpace, and answers questions about “controversial comics” he helped create in his early tenure with the company — stuff like the gay Rawhide Kid comic, the black Captain America and a Comic Code-killing X-Force. He also talks about the possibility of revisiting a couple of them:

JM: It’s been several years. Would you like to revisit a Truth, a Rawhide Kid, or an X-Force? And itch you’d like to scratch for a sequel?

AA: In a heartbeat. [Writer] Peter Milligan, [artist] Mike Allred and I have discussed the idea of revisiting X-Force/X-Statix—who, you’ll recall, were last seen getting blasted to bits by a Blackhawk helicopter. I mean, how could they survive that one? And Ron [Zimmerman]‘s got an idea for a story that would feature Rawhide Kid in an adventure that would include all the Western characters—Kid Colt, Ghost Rider, Two-Gun Kid, and etc. It’s like the “Magnificent Seven” only there’s, like, six of ‘em. Or eight. I forget. Anyway, Kid Colt’s the ringleader, Rawhide plays the Steve McQueen role, and Two-Gun Kid proves to be the Most Overrated Gun in the West. Guy can’t hit the side of a barn, but, man, can he negotiate his way out of any scrape.

More X-Force? Yes, please. And as much as I love a Western, I’ll have to take a pass on any more Ron Zimmerman comics in this lifetime.

Over at the blog Comics Should Be Good, Greg Hatcher delves into the murky but warm waters of X-Men continuity by sharing a series of letters between himself and student, Rachel. She recently became a fan of the X-Men comics, and Greg spent the “last week or so” answering her questions about Marvel’s merry mutants. Including the merriest, Wolverine:

…the Wolverine of the comics really was disliked by many people at the beginning. He started out as a Hulk villain.

And later when he was drafted for the new X-Men he was primarily the guy that nobody cared for, the agent of discord on the team. Marvel used to get letters saying “And kill off that obnoxious Wolverine.” The star character in the revival was Nightcrawler because Dave Cockrum really liked drawing him. And in fact there was a point when the Wolverine character was getting so much hate mail that they were thinking of dropping him from the book.

When John Byrne took over the art from Cockrum, one of the things he wanted to do as co-plotter of the book was ‘rehabilitate’ Wolverine… that is, make the fans like him more. Part of it was that Byrne was Canadian himself and didn’t want the only Canadian superhero at Marvel to go away, and part of it was that Byrne thought it would be a fun challenge, taking a hero so despised and seeing if he couldn’t get the fans to come around. So Byrne began, very subtly, to slant stories toward Wolverine. (In those days, Marvel’s artists had a lot more control over a story, because the art was done from a brief outline rather than a script. Then the writer would come in and write captions and dialogue based on the penciled art.)

It’s an interesting read for anyone who wasn’t around when Claremont was tearing it up on the title, or for anyone who fondly remembers spending the car ride between Dallas and Austin explaining to his two best friends what happened between Uncanny X-Men #94 and #275, just so they’d be up to speed. They probably preferred it to me making them listen to Appetite for Destruction over and over again.

This is pretty cool … Rob at the Aquaman Shrine shares a page from DC’s official style guide that shows the Pantone color swatches used for several of their characters:

“I love how distinctive those poses by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez are–Green Arrow with his bow, Plastic Man being goofy, Batman a bit stand-offish,” Rob writes. He also notes the colors used to create Aquaman’s uniform, in case you were wondering what my title was referring to.

(Thanks Michael!)

It’s Wednesday, which would typically mean Carla Hoffman’s The Fifth Color column would have been posted today if last week’s tragedy hadn’t occurred. Carla and her husband Lance suffered severe burns in the Tea Fire in the Santa Barbara, Calif. area last week.

I want to say thanks to everyone who has commented on our previous threads, commented on their own blogs or emailed me directly about Carla and Lance, whether it was to check on their condition or to offer to donate something to help them out. I’ve compiled a few more updates below, and will share any additional ones I receive:

• Here’s a follow-up story to the one I posted earlier this week, which includes more quotes from Lance’s grandfather on their condition. They are both still unconscious, in critical but stable condition, but doctors have said Lance’s lungs and eyes were not damaged, which was something they were worried about.

Update, 11/20: The Santa Barbara Independent has a nice story about Carla and Lance.

• More information: If you’re on Facebook, you can join the Tea Fire Survivors group, where people are giving updates on and talking about ways to help Lance and Carla.

• There is also a Yahoo Group that has been set up that you can join as well.

• Donations: You can mail a donation to the fund that the Montecito Fire Department set up for them:

The Lance and Carla Burn Fund
Santa Barbara Bank and Trust
1483 East Valley Road
Montecito, CA 93108-1248

• In addition, The SB Academy of Martial Arts, where Lance is a student, has a page set up where you can donate to Lance and Carla via PayPal.

• And the Blog@ crew is working on a charity auction of our own to help out Lance and Carla. I’ll share the details once we get them sorted out.

Jon Givetz of Metro Entertainment, the comic shop where Carla Hoffman works, sent a quick but welcome update on the condition of Carla and her husband Lance after they were burnt in the Tea Fire that’s ravaged the Santa Barbara area of California.

“The good news is both Carla and Lance’s conditions have stabilized and they are both expected to recover,” he said, “although they will both be hospitalized for awhile.”

He adds that, unfortunately, their home was completely destroyed in the fire. “We are in the process of setting up a fund to help them out, and I will let you know as soon as we have it ready to go,” he said.

Big thanks to Jon for the updates; I’ll pass them on as they come in.

Update (Monday, Nov. 17): The Montecito fire department has announced the establishment of a fund to help Carla and Lance. Donations may be sent to:

The Lance and Carla Burn Fund
Santa Barbara Bank and Trust
1483 East Valley Road
Montecito, CA 93108-1248

Today I received some very sad news about Blog@ contributor Carla Hoffman and her husband Lance. On Thursday, while fleeing from the Tea Fire that’s burning in and around the California cities of Montecito and Santa Barbara, Carla and Lance were overtaken by a flash fire.

According to news reports, both suffered severe burns on their arms and legs. Lance also has second- and third-degree burns on his head. The couple was able to drive themselves to the Montecito fire station and were transported by ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Doctors are keeping them unconscious until the swelling goes down.

I can’t think of two people who are more exuberant about life, comics and each other than Carla and Lance. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, and I’ll keep you updated on their condition as I receive updates.

Stephen Colbert tips his hat (and wags his finger) at Marvel Comics because they allowed him to remain a “viable candidate” for president:

His bit about Marvel starts around the three minute and 30 second mark. Also I’m guessing that like a lot of videos, this one may not work for folks outside of the United States.

(Thanks Rich!)

Over on his blog, award-winning letterer Todd Klein details the process of creating a new print with Alex Ross — check out parts 1, 2 and 3 to see how it went from concept to design.

A few days ago I shared a report from The Hollywood Reporter on director Brett Ratner being in final negotiations to direct a new Conan the Barbarian movie. Per Patrick Goldstein with the L.A. Times, those reports were premature:

Lerner acknowledged that even though he sent out a press release announcing Ratner’s involvement with the project, the deal wasn’t actually done. “We still have a few obstacles,” he said. “Brett is only committed if we agree on a budget, on how to do the special effects and exactly where we’d shoot the film.” Lerner has a studio in Bulgaria, so he’d like to shoot most of the movie there, with some exterior work in China.

But is Ratner actually committed to doing the film? In two words: Not really. When I called him today, he sounded somewhat agitated, unhappy that news of his negotiations with Lerner had surfaced, especially since he is extremely close to getting a green light from Paramount to make “Beverly Hills Cop 4.” “Let me make this very clear,” he told me. “I am not doing ‘Conan’ now. This is totally premature. For now, ‘Conan’ is only a development deal. I have a deal at Paramount and I’m doing ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ first, no matter what. Avi shouldn’t be telling you or anyone else in the press what I’m doing.”

No doubt this will make all the commenters on the previous post very, very happy.

Comic Book Resources has recruited writer Jeff Parker to host a new feature over at their site called Writer vs. Artist. It’ll feature a battle to the death between Parker and an artist of his choice. Not really; actually, he explains the concept in this first one:

CBR is kindly testing out this new feature wherein I directly engage a potentially hostile artist in the wild and attempt to coax him or her into sharing with our fellow process junkies valuable secrets of hammering out a readable comic book.

For the first one, he talks to MAD Magazine artist Tom Fowler, who is drawing a new Wildstorm book Parker is writing called Mysterius The Unfathomable. If you’re a process junkie, it’s definitely worth a look.

Editor’s Note: Paul Levitz returns to Blog@Newsarama with some advice on giving feedback to companies.

by Paul Levitz

The incoming mail folder this morning prompts my blogging subject, with apologies to David Letterman, whose marquee shines outside my office window, a top ten list for folks planning letter-writing campaigns:

Ten. Try to figure out whether what you’re asking for is a practical possibility. When the Teen Titans animated television show ended, I got some letters begging for its return (inspired perhaps by the success of the campaign for Teen Titans Go!, more on which later). But the letters came in after the last episode aired…which meant that the team which had produced the show had broken up about a year earlier, and gone on to other gigs. There are sound business reasons why most animated tv shows only last for a certain maximum number of episodes (though the exceptions to the rule, like THE SIMPSONS, defy any form of gravity or entropy), but if you can’t keep the creative team together, you can’t replicate what the viewer loves. So asking for the show to come back after the team’s gone is self-defeating. Same thing’s true for comics.

(more…)

… flying into the middle of what looks like could be a really fun Peanuts game:

According to Joystiq, the game doesn’t have a publisher yet, and it won’t be done until 2010. Rats.

Losers artist Jock reacts to the news that Sylvain White might be directing The Losers movie:

As far as I know, Sylvain is still only in negotiation, so the film actually shooting is still pending on contracts being signed and sealed, but things are certainly looking good.

In our short experience with this, both Andy and I have learned to take any bit of news with a pinch of salt – from when we were initially excited, about three or four years ago, to have PETE BERG on board as writer/director (sitting with him in an underground pub in London, hearing him say “this time next year we’ll be sitting on the set!”), to slightly scary rumours of McG being attached, then TIM STORY of the Fantastic Four movies signing on for a while, but still no film… however these current plans seem the most concrete.

He also shares the above image of Jack Nicholson drawn as Max from the book, which he created a few years ago when Warner Bros. was hoping to lure Nicholson to that role.