Kryptonite, Lex Luthor and Doomsday have yet to fell the “Boy of Steel” (funny, for a lead actor in his 30s now), but finally something may be too deadly for Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman to overcome: A new Friday night timeslot.

Making the rounds in entertainment trades is news that The CW network has laid out their Fall 2009 schedule, and while Smallville managed to survive (news known for weeks, actually), the show looks like odd man out in terms of its choice time of the week. Making way for a new program (The Vampire Diaries) to be paired Thursday nights with the thriving Supernatural, Smallville has been moved to Fridays and given a mere repeat of America’s Top Model (I just threw up a little in my mouth) to carry the night for the network. Gotta love, also, how CW has put together a night devoted to Aaron Spelling material from days of old, 90210 and Melrose Place. I can assure you what network I will NOT be watching on Tuesday nights come September.

Terminator fans know all too well how toxic Friday night prime time can be with the recent cancellation of Fox’s Sarah Connor Chronicles. And despite being touched by an angel with Dollhouse, Joss Whedon fans were infamously burned with the short shrift given to cult classic Firefly. But despite the fact that I am sure Smallville’s move to Fridays is the first step in The CW clearing it off the books a year from now, I really can’t complain about the show’s treatment dating back to its origins on The WB in 2001. Nine seasons for any show in this day and age is remarkable, and in spite of creative ups and downs over the years, there is no denying that Smallville cemented its status in Superman lore years ago.

Ultimately my biggest hope is that the show producers develop a season from beginning to end that’ll make some sort of historical sense in Man of Steel mythology and not make it up as they go along, unsure of the promise of a tenth season. And I know everyone who follows the show has an idea in their head on how the eventual series finale should play out, but I for one would like them to simply end Season 9, regardless of the show’s fate, on a note that gives fans a sense of hope, if not closure. Stay tuned.

After an underwhelming stretch recently of reissues and box sets that have felt like déjà vu the ninth time over — enough to make fans look to Mattel more and more as a reliable source of new DC action figures — DC Direct this week announced a new batch of figures that are buzzworthy and genuinely appreciated by this particular collector.

Expected to drop in January of 2010, the Justice Society of America‘s second wave was solicited Monday, action figures based on the hit DC Comics series, masterminded up until recently by Geoff Johns and Alex Ross. While we’re still waiting for the delayed first wave of figures (featuring Green Lantern, the Flash, Starman and Sandman), what DC Direct just unveiled is most welcome. Based off the highly regarded “Thy Kingdom Come,” this lineup, while not perfect for my own selfish needs, is solid for JSA fans.
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So, in the wake of this week’s season finale of Smallville, “Doomsday,” there was a little matter of a letter that Clark Kent composed in the event of his passing, as the Red-Blue Blur, that Lois Lane was instructed to run in the Daily Planet. 
It was only for a few moments at best that the viewers got a glimpse of the letter as Clark (Tom Welling) was typing it out.  As a service to the loyal viewers, I made it a point to transcribe the letter in its entirety…

To the citizens of Metropolis:

You have welcomed me into your city and allowed me to make it my home. I will always be grateful for that. Which is why I cannot leave without saying goodbye. This newspaper has made me into what you think I am — an example, a symbol, a “hero.” But the truth is, I’m simply one of you. The only difference is that my days in the shadows and my nights on the streets have allowed me to see what you’ve lost sight of — the good in each of you.

I’ve seen regular people do extraordinary things. I’ve seen you help each other up after you’ve been knocked down. I’ve seen you stand together when times are tough. And I’ve seen the smallest act make the biggest change. If I’ve done anything right, I hope it’s help you realize one person can make a difference in the lives of others — that Metropolis doesn’t need a hero. Have faith in yourself, and you will find hope in each other.

Remember, it’s not the mask that makes the hero. It’s the choices we make and the desire to do what’s right. I’ve seen that desire in all of you. It inspired me to promise I would do everything in my power to protect this city — but I can’t promise that I’ll be around forever. One day, there may be a fight I cannot win.

But if that day comes, please, keep fighting without me to make the world a better place. Be the heroes I know you are.

~ The Red-Blue Blur

About a week ago, Matty Collector, the “boutique” site for Mattel action figure collecting, posted an announcement on Facebook regarding their delays in getting 2009 DC Universe product into the stores…

It is no secret that their has been a delay in getting new JLU figures into Target stores. This is entirely do to our factor[sic] shutting down last December. We have already found a new factory and we have new packs ready to ship, the problem is, while we waited for the new factory to produce the new 2009 figures, we had to continue and ship 2008 product to Target to hold the place in the toy aisle.

Stuff happens, especially on the distribution end of the action figure trade. But where Matty starts to lose me is in his pitch to clear 2008 inventory to make the newer items available…

So right now Target is full of 2008 packs. We need to get all of these sold before Target will take orders for new 2009 packs. So, to help, Mattel is funding a month long price reduction on 3 packs. So tell your friends and allies, swing by a Target and grab some JLU packs this month on sale. Once we move all of the older product, we have fresh new figures ready to ship and get into your hands!

Annnndd… that’s where you lost me. Having a Target about 5 blocks from my home, I get into the store at least once or twice a week, and I’m always checking the toy section in case something new or hard to find pops up. For what feels like months, I’ve been seeing the same stuff warming the pegs because Mattel had no business producing and distributing an excessive amount of certain figures that were never a guaranteed sale in the first place (see image above). But basically Mattel is saying, “Hey, we’re slashing prices, so hurry up and clear our inventory so we can make new merchandise available to you!” Over at a forum hosted by our friend and colleague, Action Figure Insider’s Julius Marx, the discussion on this has been robust.

Bear with me, I didn’t take any business or economics classes in college, so am I failing to grasp some supply and demand principles or something?

For the last few years, I have referred to Raving Toy Maniac as a reliable source for information regarding release schedules for toys and collectibles. In particular, the toy website was very dependable for updates on DC Direct product, like when their merchandise would be hitting stores and any subsequent rescheduling that may have been caused by production delays, what have you.

So I thought it was odd that no new RTM updates for DC Direct had dropped since last March. As a collector, I was usually able to find some useful information at least every couple of weeks. Imagine my surprise when I checked there first thing this morning to see RTM address the mystery as their headline piece!
From their statement on the matter:

We would get the shipping date information out of the weekly “Direct Channel” newsletter that DC would email to retailers and various media. For reasons not clear to us, DC has chosen to no longer include the media on their Direct Channel distribution list. (We do still get the monthly solicitations, so at least we’ll still have the pretty pictures to post once a month for you!)

When we asked DC about this, as part of their reply they directed us to their “The Source” blog on the official DC web site. They have some interesting stuff posted there, and maybe if you ask nicely, they’ll start posting shipping dates?

Strikes me as funny that a business would cut off media resources from getting the word out about their product for sale in comic book specialty shops. As internet-savvy as your average comic reader is, I think the decision to limit this information to select sources, namely the stores themselves, does the consumer a disservice. DC Direct product, from the action figures to the statues, is by no means cheap, and personally, getting the release schedules well in advance have allowed me to budget my money properly to get the sought-after items when they ultimately arrive. Compounding this is the fact that The Source, while being a nice new provider of teasers, previews and information regarding upcoming comic books, has yet to ever cover their DC Direct merchandise, best to my recollection.

DC Direct has not posted a public comment on this, so one can only wonder why the media at large got left out of the picture all of the sudden. Maybe it’s just me, but getting the word out to the most venues possible when peddling your wares would make sense, don’t you think? Any thoughts on this, readers, why DC would sever ties to a viable information stream?

When you’re a show on the bubble and your season’s about to wrap, it’s good to give the fans something tasty that they can savor for awhile. The season (don’t make me say series, NBC) finale of Chuck was pretty darn successful at doing just that. This final, wedding-based episode did a terrific job of tying up loose ends and giving certain characters some new direction without really closing the door on anything in a finite way. This is in no way meant to be an Post Game-style episode recap (so spoiler shields up) to get you up to speed, this is for the faithful viewers who watched Chuck this week and hope that the line “I know Kung Fu” is only the start of something special.
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The Mothership reported today about the latest news regarding the official summer release date of Green Lantern: First Flight on blu-ray and DVD.

Yahoo! Movies now has the first trailer for the animated film, I think it bodes well for the 2010 live-action film.

UPDATE:

Our home base at Newsarama has since added the First Flight trailer.

Obama Depressed, Distant Since ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Series Finale

Courtesy of The Onion HERE…

Man, did I miss sharing this with you?
Mea culpa, but here’s a little weekend “Moment of Zen” that celebrates Bat-branding through the ages.
Cheers!

As promised (I hope), this should be my last offering related to the recent WATCHMEN release.

In a GQ issue with a little something for everyone (trying to make it in the publishing biz with Lenny Dykstra sounds more awful than any horror story I’ve caught in recent years about the comics industry), the April 2009 issue of GQ has a feature entitled “The 20 Graphic Novels You Should Read (After “Watchmen”).”

The men in tights are kept to a minimum (Batman doesn’t even get a mention that I’m aware of, save for citing Ed Brubaker — Superman and Madman earn high marks one time each), and it’s a respectable look at how comics aren’t just kids stuff, a noble venture by a magazine geared to get male consumers everywhere to buy $300 Hugo Boss t-shirts.

Of course 20 items isn’t even going to scratch the surface, but what additional suggestions would YOU make to a mainstream publication like GQ?

South Park tackled the comic book superhero genre with mixed results on their March 18th episode. Simultaneously taking digs at The Dark Knight, The Spirit, and the up-to-the-minute Watchmen, the concept of a city’s masked hero fighting injustice with an Atlas-like sense of self-importance was mocked rather well despite a rather unsatisfying ending.

Click the link to get the episode in full, and swing back by here to let us know what you thought of “The Coon.”

Hearkening back to my recent post about a relatively obscure new Malin Akerman interview, Inked magazine’s website has rolled out a gallery of Watchmen tattoos.

It just occurred to me that a former colleague of ours had a Dr. Manhattan tattoo that needed a bit of rehab. I wonder if he ever looked into that, what with the new coming movie out this week.

Personally, I haven’t touched on any Watchmen material for my own ink needs. Has anyone else here done up some Watchmen ink?

From Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Daily (subscription log-in required)…
DC Comics Forces NBA To Scrap Plans For Krypto-Nate T-Shirts

Nate Robinson and his Krypto-Nate alter-ego have become such a phenomenon, DC Comics, the originator of Superman, wants a piece of the action, The Post has learned.

Two days after the 5-7½ Robinson spectacularly won the Slam-Dunk competition during All-Star weekend, the NBA announced plans to release a green Krypto-Nate T-shirt for sale at the NBA Store and NBA.com.

KNICKS BLOG
One day later, the NBA scrapped its plan because of intellectual property issues with DC Comics, the originator of the Superman comic books. DC Comics’ offices are located on Broadway, near the NBA Store.

Robinson’s Krypto-Nate scheme – designed to topple a red-caped Dwight Howard and his Superman shtick – was too close to home for DC Comics. Kryptonite is the green emerald crystal found on the fictional planet Krypton that weakens Superman. The NBA is now looking to involve DC Comics in future Krypto-Nate endeavors, according to a league source. (more…)

Compliments to USA Today Pop Candy’s Whitney Matheson (an absolute doll, by the way!) for posting the news of a rare copy of Action Comics #1 up for auction starting March 27th. Don’t expect to see that $1.00 starting list price to last very long, it’ll be moments upon the auction’s launch before it fetches six figures.

Good thing I got a tax return coming soon!

As the upcoming Watchmen movie (March 6th) begins its expected rollout of major cover stories, one you won’t readily find at your local supermarket checkout line is with Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre) on the cover of Inked magazine. A relatively new publication that’s become a favorite of mine (I’m so biased), thanks to it’s ability to strike the right blend of tattoo art, pop culture and fashion, Akerman is the latest cover girl. For those not familiar with the monthly magazine (found mostly at specialty shops), they run several interviews per issue with guys and gals of the inked persuasion, and they typical go with a celebrity to grace the cover.
In stores now as well as online, most of the Akerman interview discusses her own personal tattoo history, and the pros and cons of getting work on herself in the particular profession she’s in, but of course the discussion eventually veers toward her current role in 2009′s most high-profile comic book-based film…

You spent a large part of last year making, arguably, one of the most anticipated movies of 2009, Watchmen. How would you describe this movie to the uninitiated? Yeah, that’s a difficult task. It’s so layered and complex. So far I’ve failed at trying to describe it. Every time I say something some fan starts blogging, “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” It’s not your typical superhero film. What would it be like if real people, real vigilantes that we call superheroes, lived among us and were just regular people? Watchmen is one of the best novels I’ve ever read. It’s so smart and it’s one of those things you can pick up and read over and over again and always get something new from it. It’s a bit of a thriller and a love story and a conspiracy theory—there’s a little bit for everyone.

Have you had any physical encounters with overzealous fanboys? Not yet. They kept us at a distance from all of them at Comic-Con. You know, I have a friend who is a big comic book geek and he freaked out! All of a sudden, as soon as I got Watchmen, he became a fan instead of a friend. I was like, “It’s still me!” [Laughs.] “I’m not Silk Spectre for real.” It was just amazing to see him get so excited.

Speaking of which, has your husband demanded you bring the latex costume home? I saw in his eyes how much he loved it. He came to the set and I came out in my costume and his eyes popped open—I’ve never seen them as wide as that before. But before he opened his mouth I said, “Listen, it’s never coming home. It won’t be in the bedroom, so just forget about it.”

You know, Jude Law has a Watchmen tattoo—apparently he’s a huge fan. Couldn’t that have scored him a small role? He does? Really?

Yeah, it’s the character Rorschach. Well, then no. If it’s not Silk Spectre, screw it. He doesn’t deserve a scene!

I’ve been perusing the latest DC Comics solicitations (May 2009), and the unfinished cover to Justice League of America #33 caught my attention…

Notice anything familiar?

Two things I’ve gathered from this:
1.  The JLA seem to go down WAY too easy, no matter who they battle.
2.  It never hurts to assign an A-list talent to do your covers if your superhero team is a pretty big deal.

You may have experienced this in your neck of the woods, I know all of the sudden our local outlets are a little lighter. The Chicago Reader this week has addressed one particular medium in the dwindling newspaper industry that’s taken a huge hit, alternative weeklies.

While Matt Groening is set for the next several generations, thanks to The Simpsons, most creators of comic strips found in free weekly newspapers are finding less and less places to call home.

Readers, have you felt the hit in YOUR favorite local weekly?

Edit: The above comic is courtesy of Ben Claassen III. Thanks, Eden!

Got this press release e-mailed to me this afternoon.  The subject itself wasn’t a biggie for me, though I’m not sure how often Mark Millar makes his way to Chicago.  The event that Wizard Entertainment labels for themselves as struck me as different than what I’d gone to for the last ten years straight.

MARK MILLAR NAMED GUEST OF HONOR
AT CHICAGO COMIC-CON!

The Charismatic Writer Of Kick-Ass And Fantastic Four
Brings The Party To The Windy City

Congers, NY (February 4, 2009) – Veteran comic scribe Mark Millar is currently setting Hollywood on fire with properties like Wanted and Kick-Ass, and now the Scottish sensation will be meeting and greeting fans at Chicago Comic-Con. Known for his larger-than-life characters and action sequences that make Michael Bay movies look like “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” fans are guaranteed a rip-roaring good time when they meet Millar at any one of his numerous panels and signings taking place all weekend long.

Millar proved to be the first blockbuster writer of the new millennium with his groundbreaking and high concept action stories in both Ultimate X-Men and The Authority. Millar raised the bar for himself even further with The Ultimates, a series that became the blueprint for how superhero comics are written in the 21st Century. Millar has left his mark on nearly every one of Marvel’s heavy-hitting characters in titles such as Marvel Knights: Spider-Man, Wolverine and, currently, Fantastic Four with Ultimates artist Bryan Hitch.

“We are thrilled to feature Mark as Guest of Honor for Chicago Comic-Con,” said Wizard Senior VP/Operations Joe Yanarella. “Wherever Mark goes, there’s sure to be a party and this show will be no different. Mark has some special surprises planned for the show that will definitely have fans excited.”

Millar’s creator-owned work has proven to be as explosive and popular as his many other projects. His mini-series with fellow Chicago Comic-Con attendee JG Jones, Wanted, became a major motion picture starring Angelina Jolie and was one of the biggest blockbusters of the 2008 summer movie season. The adaptation of his current smash hit comic series, Kick-Ass, stars Nicholas Cage and is being unleashed on theaters later this year.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet Mark Millar. Be sure to go to www.wizardworld.com for updates about guests and programming and to save 15 percent off the price of tickets by ordering now. Chicago Comic-Con returns August 6-9, 2009 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

I know they’ve rebranded themselves over the years here in Chicago, but I can’t recall the last time Wizard referred to their local event as “Comic-Con.”
And not once in the press release do they say “Wizard World.”
A coincidence in light of the news this week from their competition?
I don’t know. Feedback is welcome.

Courtesy of The Onion:  

I swear, how do president-appointed officials not know this stuff???

Obama Disappointed Cabinet Failed To Understand His Reference To ‘Savage Sword Of Conan’ #24