Comics readers will find several things to be thankful for this week, including the debut of the new Umbrella Academy miniseries, the end of the “R.I.P” storyline in Batman, and the long-awaited Body Bags one-shot.

(Yes, I know Thursday is Thanksgiving only in the United States, but you can still be thankful for something — like, say, the arrival of Mesmo Delivery in comics shops.)

If you’re looking for more books to keep you entertained between parade viewings, food courses and football games, Wednesday also sees an American Elf collection, another Captain America Premiere Hardcover, Scott Morse’s Tiger Tiger Tiger, and … Tijuana Bibles.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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It’s been a while since we’ve seen anything about Dominic Sena’s adaptation of Whiteout, based on the 1998 Oni Press miniseries by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber. The shifting release date has made it slip off the radar, I guess.

But now ShockTillYouDrop.com has the movie’s international poster, which apparently popped up at Comic-Con. Now Warner Bros. has released it officially, and I like it. Well, except for the font.

Whiteout, which stars Kate Beckinsale and Gabriel Macht, is set to open on Sept. 11, 2009.

In the wake of the cancellations by DC Comics of Birds of Prey, Blue Beetle, Checkmate, Legion of Super-Heroes and Manhunter, Marc-Oliver Frisch spies two more titles that seem to have crossed the line of death: Jonah Hex and Simon Dark.

They’re the only remaining DC Universe ongoing series that sell below 24,000, at least according to ICv2.com sales estimates for October. Actually, they’re well below: Jonah Hex #36 moved an estimated 12,629 copies, while Simon Dark #13 sold an estimated 10,404.

“Given that both titles are selling significantly below that marker,” Frisch writes, “there’s probably not much rope left for them, either.”

It seems like not that long ago, 20,000 was that magical point of no return for most books at DC and Marvel (not that a 4,000-copy shift would move either book back over the line). But the newly canceled She-Hulk supposedly sold nearly 23,000 copies in October; likewise, Legion and Birds of Prey were above that 20,000 mark.

I guess times change … quickly.

Imagi has released the first teaser for its computer-animated adaptation of Astro Boy, based on the classic manga and anime series by Osamu Tezuka. You can watch the trailer after the break.

Directed by David Bowers, the movie features the voices of Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Matt Lucas, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy, Donald Sutherland and Scarlett Johansson. Astro Boy opens on Oct. 23, 2009.

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If IMDB is to be believed, we now know the identities of Smallville‘s teen-agers from the future.

The Kryptonsite fan site points out that the entry for the Geoff Johns-written “Legion” episode has been updated with 25-year-old Ryan Kennedy as Cosmic Boy, and 17-year-old Calum Worthy as Lightning Lad. They join 22-year-old Canadian actress/pop singer Alexz Johnson, who was confirmed as Saturn Girl earlier this month.

The trio are the founding members of DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes, who first appeared in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958).

The episode apparently is set to air in January, the same month that sees the end of the Legion of Super-Heroes comic series.

(Via The Legion Omnicom)

Update (Friday, Nov. 21): As a reader points out in the comments, Kryptonsite now has a screencap from the “Legion” episode that features all three Legionnaires — in outfits that give a nod to their comic-book costumes. Also: The above photo of Calum Worthy apparently is a few years old.

Jonah Hex has survived the Civil War, countless gunfights and a trip into the far-flung future. But can he endure that dreaded Hollywood menace known as “creative differences”?

Variety reports the Crank team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have dropped out as directors of the Warner Bros. adaptation, which was announced in July 2007.

The reason for their departure? “Creative differences.”

According to the trade paper, Warner Bros. is moving quickly to find a new director and nail down actor Josh Brolin in time to begin production in the spring.

There appears to be some sort of competition between Warner Bros. and Lionsgate to see which studio can churn out the most posters for one movie. Warner Bros. is winning with Watchmen, but it’s not for lack of trying on Lionsgate’s part.

Anyway, Cinematical has the roughly 173rd, and supposedly final, poster for Frank Miller’s adaptation of The Spirit. The movie opens on Dec. 25.

Marvel has released what I believe is the third trailer for Wolverine and the X-Men, the animated series set to debut Jan. 23 on Nicktoons.

It looks surprisingly good — good enough that those tired of seeing Wolverine everywhere may overlook his front-and-center role in the cartoon. Hey, how else are they to capitalize on that Wolverine movie?

You can watch the trailer after the break. Marvel’s website also offers a brief behind-the-scenes video with some of the voice cast.

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Despite claims to the contrary, writer James Robinson apparently hasn’t quit DC Comics’ Superman books.

On Monday Rich Johnston reported that he understood Robinson had left the titles, “and the DCU in general,” after an argument with Executive Editor Dan DiDio.

But yesterday editor Matt Idelson told the Superman Homepage fan site that Robinson has not quit.

I guess that’s what you get with an amber traffic light which, in “Lying in the Gutters” parlance, means “there is a heavy bias involved here, or it just seems a little dodgy.”

Robinson, who’s probably best known for his Eisner Award-winning work on Starman and Leave It To Chance, and his recent stints on Batman and Detective Comics, was announced as the new writer of Superman in February. His first issue was June’s #676.

Last week Executive Editor Dan DiDio revealed that DC Comics is canceling Blue Beetle, a move made official on Monday with the release of February solicitations.

Not to be outdone, Marvel on Tuesday announced the cancellation of She-Hulk. Again. But at least the publisher did so with humor: “She’s been savage. She’s been sensational. She’s been an avenger. She’s been a lawyer. She’s been a bounty-hunter. But there’s one thing She-Hulk has always been, in all of her many series … cancelled. But it hasn’t stopped her yet!”

On his blog, She-Hulk writer Peter David responded to the news in similar fashion:

I’ve known about it for a couple months but didn’t say anything because I’m not big on making with the bad news.

I have to admit, I’m shocked. Shocked. The market has always been so supportive of books with female leads, and She-Hulk has never had a title canceled out from under her before, so I could never have seen this coming.

Writer John Rogers, who co-created Jaime Reyes, had a more … pointed … reaction to the cancellation of Blue Beetle:

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Variety at last confirms a rumor that began more than six months ago: Gossip Girl creator Josh Schwartz is writing X-Men: First Class for 20th Century Fox.

Although no plot details have been revealed, the trade paper notes that the studio has been leaning toward using younger characters introduced previously in the X-Men franchise. The three movies have earned a combined $1.2 billion worldwide.

The spinoff shares a title with the Marvel Comics series introduced in 2006 by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz about the original X-Men: Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl.

First Class joins a slate of X-Men films that includes next summer’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a planned Magneto prequel, and a possible Deadpool spinoff.

Schwartz, who also created the TV series The O.C. and Chuck, also could direct the movie.

If I’m running a little late this week, blame it on the winter weather. Or, at the very least, the avalanche of comics based on movies, television shows and video games.

Angel, Battlestar Galactica, Dead Space, Doctor Who, Halloween, Heroes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Street Fighter II, Transformers, The X-Files, World of Warcraft — they’re all represented on shelves this week.

If those aren’t your thing, there’s also an omnibus edition of Jack Kirby’s The Demon, a Walking Dead oversized hardcover, a collection of Stan Lee’s old monthly columns, Mark Waid’s debut on the Brand New Day-era Amazing Spider-Man, and yetis. Well, at least one yeti.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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Repeated references on the campaign trail by then-candidate Barack Obama to Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln sent Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book rocketing up the sales charts.

Likewise, when the president-elect mentioned Sunday on 60 Minutes that he’d read “a new book out about FDR’s first 100 days,” he caused a bit of a stir as authors and publishers scrambed to lay claim to the title. (It turns out there are several “new” books about Roosevelt’s first 100 days. However, Obama actually was referring to two titles: Jonathan Alter’s 2006 book The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, and Jean Edward Smith’s more recent FDR.)

However, the influence of the 44th president may not end with historical nonfiction. Note that I wrote may.

According to this article in Canada’s Financial Post, news that Obama collects Spider-Man and Conan comics has given a boost to sales of the wall-crawler’s title. At least in Victoria, British Columbia.

“I used to sell three or four Spider-Man comics a week,” says Gareth Gaudin, owner of Legends in downtown Victoria. “Now I’m selling 30 or 35 a day and almost everyone who is buying is mentioning Obama.”

Hardly empirical evidence, I know. But it’s probably enough to make a few retailers and publishers cross their fingers and hope that Obama gives a nod to a few other comic books.

Why should Obama limit himself to Lincoln’s “team of rivals” concept for assembling a Cabinet when he could go with, say, “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”?

Bayou and High Moon, perhaps the two biggest successes from DC Comics’ Zuda webcomic initiative, will make the leap to print next year.

Wired.com reports that Bayou, Jeremy Love’s “Southern-fried odyssey” set in 1930s Mississippi, will debut in wide format in June. That will be followed in October by High Moon, David Gallaher and Steve Ellis’ werewolf Western.

On his blog, Ben Templesmith teases Groom Lake, his upcoming project with IDW Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall. It’s light on details, but I like the image.

Not a dream! Not a hoax! Not an imaginary story! Marvel’s famously unfinished 2006 miniseries Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk may actually … finish.

“Ultimate Hulk and Wolverine is really going to happen, folks,” artist Leinil Francis Yu writes on his deviantART journal. “I have all the scripts and this baby should be in hardcover real soon! I just hope I can still mimic my 3 year old self. It’s gonna be a bit weird.”

As you may recall, the planned six-issue miniseries, by Yu and Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof, launched in December 2005. The second issue followed in February 2006. However, the third issue — originally solicited for April 2006, resolicited several times and then, finally, canceled — never materialized.

The status of the project became a recurring topic at Marvel convention panels until, at this year’s Comic-Con, Lindelof handed Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada the script to Issue 6 in a staged production. That was a year after Lindelof said he’d turned in the script to the fifth issue.

With that part of the puzzle solved, the only remaining question was the availability of Yu, who’d been busy with New Avengers and Secret Invasion. And after Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk?

“After that is some Mark Millar goodness with an arc of Ultimate Avengers,” he writes. “Of course things could still change and Marvel could shuffle things around since we really won’t know how the schedule would turn out. It’s still months away.”

Update: Marvel’s February solicitations, which were released at noon, include listings for “all-new” printings of the miniseries’ first two issues.

In case you missed, or simply avoided, the bootlegged trailer for Star Trek that made the rounds over the weekend, now the official version is available for your viewing pleasure — or displeasure — at Apple.com.

The shot above should give Trek purists one more nit to pick: It depicts, I presume, the Enterprise being constructed … somewhere amid a great swath of farmland. Instead of, y’know, the San Francisco Fleet Yards high above the Earth. Discuss.

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek opens on May 8.

Comics legend Stan Lee was among those presented today at the White House with the National Medal of Arts.

The medal is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. government.

“I wonder what took so long,” the 85-year-old Lee told The Washington Post. “Say ‘He said it with a laugh’ or I’ll shoot you.”

Others receiving the honor today from President Bush included actress Olivia de Havilland, jazz pianist Hank Jones, sculptor Jesús Moroles, and songwriting brothers Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman, who penned It’s a Small World (After All) and other works for Disney.

The ceremony also included the presentation of the National Humanities Medal.

Tiscali Games has the first screenshots from the upcoming Watchmen video game from Warner Bros. Interactive, Watchmen: The End is Nigh.

Developed by Deadline Games for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, the episodic game follows Rorschach and Nite Owl in 1972. The first game will be released in March, around the time of the movie’s debut. A sequel is planned to coincide with the release of the Watchmen DVD.

(via Slashfilm)

The first trailer for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, which debuted Friday with Quantum of Solace, has hit the Internet bootleg circuit. You can watch it here — at least until Paramount’s lawyers contact YouTube — or wait until it’s officially released tomorrow on the movie’s website.