Ramayan 3392 AD coming to the big screen

Liquid Comics, which bought out Virgin Comics last month, has struck a deal with Mandalay Pictures to bring Liquid’s graphic novel Ramayan 3392 AD to the big screen.

Per the Hollywood Reporter, John Collee has been tapped to adapt the story about a legendary blue-skinned warrior who in mythology is an incarnation of the god Vishnu fighting to save his love from demonic forces.

The trade also reports that the comic also is being developed as a multiplayer online game by Sony Online Entertainment.

The Ticker

• Splash Page talks to Die Hard scribe Steven de Souza about Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.

• Scifi.com is hosting the latest Watchmen production journal — this one’s about Dr. Manhattan. [Scifi.com]

• Zap2It observes that sophomore TV shows that didn’t come back from hiatus after the Writer’s Strike ended — shows like Chuck and Pushing Daisies — are having a tougher time in the ratings than shows that did. [Zap2It]

• Clone Wars, meanwhile, is doing pretty well in the ratings. [Variety]

• Marvel promoted Simon Philips to president, worldwide consumer products. [Variety]

• Yogi Bear is coming to the big screen. [MTV Movies Blog]

• Tarantino Babies make our dreams come true … or shoot us. (via Rick Marshall … I also have a T-shirt addiction, Rick).

• Spike TV has announced the line-up for their Scream Awards, which air on the cable network Oct. 21. [press release]

Dark Horse Comics and Jones Soda are teaming up for a promotion that’ll put characters like the The Goon and Emily the Strange on limited edition bottles available for purchase at myjones.com. The bottles will be limited to 100 six packs.

Look for The Goon bottles to be available on Oct. 7 and the Emily bottles on Oct. 14.

Director Zack Snyder finally has provided some details of the long-rumored, and previously reported, sequel to 300. Yes, the movie where they all die in the end.

At last night’s Watchmen media event, IESB sidled up to Snyder, who confirmed he’s waiting for Frank Miller to finish the graphic novel on which the movie will be based.

Snyder said the sequel will take place between the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Plataea, the final major conflict in the Greco-Persian Wars. (Spoiler alert: The Greeks won.) There’s about a one-year gap between the two battles.

Jesse Reklaw is doing a book tour for his new Slow Wave collection (to be published by Dark Horse) and is chronicling the trip comic-strip style.

Cigar Aficionado has long adorned its covers with celebrity images enjoying a stogie. Looking at my recent issue, I considered who from the world of comics should be on these covers.

Well, Nick Fury is the obvious choice. You can’t think of Nick without conjuring up an image of his eyepatch and cigar. And the blue-eyed idol of millions himself, the Thing, right?

Who else?

Howard The Duck, he always seems to enjoy sparking up a terd.

Pip is a corona man… er… troll, but probably not cover material.

Publishing powerhouse J. Jonah Jameson is, though.

And what about Perry White (finally a DC character)? Now there’s a man that is serious about his cigar. He smokes one in the work place at the Daily Planet. He even smokes one on his Slurpee cup!

I tell you, Cigar Aficionado, you’re really missing out on something here!

In a move that undoubtedly would make Julius Schwartz proud, artist Gabriel Bá gives us a chimpanzee dressed as Marilyn Monroe on the cover of The Umbrella Academy: Dallas #2. Or maybe in Gerard Way’s comic-book universe, where chimps live and work alongside humans, Monroe was an ape.

Wait. That’s a little too disturbing to contemplate … for a number of reasons.

I was reading an article today from the Times-Picayune that details the Comic Book Project, an effort led by Dark Horse Comics to get comics into schools. The goal of the Comic Book Project is to aid educators in getting kids interested in reading:

Students — especially hard-to-reach students — find comic books less intimidating than textbooks, and they frequently can express themselves in comic book form better than they can in traditional writing classes, he said. Plus, the visual medium can be more memorable, which means more lasting learning.

Let’s face it, comics have always been in schools.

I mean, I think this is great and everything, but where the heck was the Comic Book Project when I was in fourth grade? I remember sitting there reading Fantastic Four #195 tucked safely into my spelling text book, when Mrs. Davis snatched it out from under my nose. She sent the comic and me down to Mr. Connell’s office, our gargantuanly proportioned former football player-turned-elementary school principal.

Scariest. Man. Ever.

I’ll never forget his words, “Funny books aren’t for school.”

Well, in your face, Mr. Connell! Guess we showed you, huh?

Now gimme back that book!

You know, I still don’t know how that one ends…

I’d be remiss not to point our that Larry Marder’s Beanworld is back — and available for free thanks to Dark Horse Presents on MySpace. Check out the beans and see what they have to say about recycling.

In addition, the new edition of Dark Horse Presents also features Achewood by Chris Onstad, as well as new stories by Liz Greenfield and Mitch Clem.

Isotope Comics will host Achewood creator Chris Onstad next Saturday to help celebrate the release of The Great Outdoor Fight collection by Dark Horse. Come for an autograph, stay for the cookies.

More details after the jump …

(more…)

This Variety article about how director Guillermo Del Toro’s dance card is filled through 2017 contains a buried gem for fans of Hellboy: Universal Pictures could consider a TV series to help build interest in a third installment of the movie franchise.

Sure, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army did so-so in the United States, but it’s performed well overseas. That’s not enough for the studio to jump at a sequel, though.

“I think they’ll decide when the last euro hits the piggybank,” del Toro tells the trade paper. “We laid the groundwork to have a magnificent third act. I’d like to return to an action franchise with 60-year-old actor Ron Perlman, because he’ll be scratching at that age when I get to it.”

Perlman is 58, which means del Toro is apparently is hoping to charge into Hellboy 3 sooner rather than later.

But what about that television series? That tidbit came from Donna Langley, Universal’s president of production:

Langley said the studio is interested and may work with del Toro to add a TV series and online segments to broaden the following before making the series finale.

It’s nothing concrete, obviously, but given IDT’s abandonment of the animated movies and the performances of the theatrical releases, it’s interesting that Universal sees potential in Hellboy beyond comics.

– Darth Vader vs. the Fantastic Four.

– All-Star Superman in 11 panels.

– Shaenon Garrity writes about pioneer Anne Cleveland.

– Du9 interviews Chester Brown, who really doesn’t get interviewed enough.

– Kim Thompson and Eddie Campbell on just how many good graphic novels there are out there anyway.

– Alaska now has a cartoonist laureate.

– Paste shares 20 things they learned at Dragon*Con.

Compiled by JK and Chris. But mostly Chris.

– Joëlle Jones draws some X-Women.

– An entire blog devoted to Ronald Searle? I’m so there.

– Eric Bogosian to recite Art Spiegleman. There’s a pairing I never expected to see.

– PBS Newshour does a profile on Jeff Smith.

– Pantheon will publish Dash Shaw’s Bodyworld.

– Scatalogical Hulk joke alert!

– Ryan Kelly shares Northlanders character designs.

– Here’s a map in case you ever get lost in Springfield. Via.

– Vulture previews Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle.

– Das Gamer wonders why the Halo comic is taking so long to complete.

– Larry Marder teases new Beanworld. Wohoo!

– Neil Kleid is doing a series of articles on the Dark Tower for Marvel.com. Here’s the first one.

– Bill Kahler and Mark Yturralde, the treasurer for Comic-Con International, are contestants on the Amazing Race this fall.

– The Hero Initiative has more Hulk covers up for auction. This week’s covers are by John McCrea, John Romita and Fred Hembeck, among others.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

– Stan Sakai shares the character designs for Usagi Yojimbo and Gen from the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Setting my TiVo to “stun” …

– Willy Harold Vassaux is creating an Olympic comic. And will our search hits skyrocket if I mention “superhero” Michael Phelps?

– Brigid Alverson and her fellow contributors at Good Comics for Kids discuss Robot Dreams making Oprah’s Reading List for Kids.

– Film.com analyzes the most rabid fanbases — movies fanbases, that is, like Trekkies, Twilighters and Potterheads. They say Harry Potter fans are the most rabid, even more so than Whedon fans, who I would have picked for the top spot.

– “Because I want to set you free.”

– I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong.

– The New Yorker blog interviews Comics Curmudgeon Josh Fruhlinger.

– Tom Spurgeon talks to Abandoned Cars author Tim Lane.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

• Warner Bros.’ adaptation of Arvid Nelson’s noirish alternate-history series Rex Mundi is chugging ahead. Co-producer Barry Levine says a second draft is due in from Fight Club screenwriter Jim Uhls. Now co-producer and star Johnny Depp must settle on a director. [Splash Page]

• Iron Man 2 screenwriter Justin Theroux says the movie won’t take on a darker tone: “You know, I tremulously went and watched The Dark Knight myself, but it’s a totally different movie, like, you know that Tom Cruise movie where he played the race-car driver? What was that movie called … anyway. It’s like comparing that movie to Talladega Nights — it’s two totally different animals. We have a leading man who can sort of relish being a cad, and that’s a fun character to write for. We feel like we’re in the clear.” [Vulture]

• Last week a sentence in an Australian newspaper sparked rumores that the troubled Justice League movie is back on track. Not so, according to sources at Warner Bros. — of both the official and unofficial variety. [Spoiler warning: IESB]

• That IESB link includes supposed story details from the planned Green Lantern movie. [Spoiler warning: IESB]

• Lionsgate as acquired the film rights to Duane Swierczynski’s novel Severance Package; Brett Simon will direct. What’s the comics connection, you ask? Swierczynski is a crime novelist who now writes Cable and The Immortal Iron Fist for Marvel. Also, comics artist Tom Coker illustrated the cover of Severance Package. [Variety]

• Brian Austin Green, of Beverly Hills 90210 fame, would love to play The Riddler. [Splash Page]

I’m exhausted, and I’m not even in San Diego.

Saturday’s “DCU: A Guide to Your Universe” panel at last put an end to relentless questions about the status of the Milestone Media characters: They’re being incorporated into the DC Comics universe, initially in the pages of Justice League of America and Teen Titans.

The same panel also revealed that the Archie Comics line of superheroes — The Fly, The Shield, The Black Hood and others — have been acquired by DC. The characters, licensed by DC in the early ’90s and published under the Impact imprint, will be reintroduced during J. Michael Straczynski’s run on The Brave and the Bold.

Marvel, meanwhile, announced that Mark Millar, original writer of Ultimate X-Men and The Ultimates, is returning to help reshape the Ultimate line.

“The Marvel Universe has basically been turned into the Ultimate Universe, right down to the military super-teams,” Millar told Newsarama, “so now it’s time to go back and take things to the next level. I have a very big pad filled with notes here and am blazing on this stuff. I just want to take things to the next level.”

The publisher also revealed its followup to Secret Invasion: a cosmic event called War of Kings.

Other convention-related announcements:

• ComiPress has a good rundown of the manga acquisitions and new releases announced at Comic-Con.

• Devil’s Due Publishing has entered into a parntership with Humanoids to release some of the French publisher’s titles in the United States.

• Mike Grell will helm a new Warlord series from DC, debuting next spring.

• IDW Publishing announced that Joe Hill’s Locke & Key will return in December as an ongoing series, and Steve Niles is revisiting vampires with Epilogue.

• The sequel to Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s Eisner Award-winning miniseries The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite now has a title and a release date: The Umbrella Academy: Dallas will debut in November.

• Dark Horse is revisiting the Aliens and Predator franchises.

• Writer Andy Diggle (The Losers, Hellblazer) will take over Marvel’s Thunderbolts beginning with Issue 126.

• Top Cow is releasing Art of Wanted, an oversized art book containing images from the comics, stills from the movie, and concepts from the upcoming video game.

You can follow our complete Comic-Con coverage here.

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards capped off a busy second day of Comic-Con, one that included big announcements from Marvel, Viz Media and Image, plus a slew of new titles and creator exclusives.

The meaning behind the much-teased “Marvel to the Nth Degree” panel came to light Friday morning in The Wall Street Journal with word that Marvel is reteaming with Stephen King for a “motion comics”-style digital adaptation of his forthcoming short story “N.”

Image Comics revealed a team-up of its own: Six of the company’s founders — Marc Silvestri, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino, Rob Liefeld, Whilce Portacio and Todd McFarlane — and new partner Robert Kirkman will release Image United, a miniseries starring some of their best-known creations, plus “side characters.”

And after a lengthy delay at the creator’s request, Viz Media finally will release Naoki Urasawa’s science fiction/mystery series 20th Century Boys. The publisher also has licensed his latest work, Pluto. Both will debut in February.

The Vertigo panel unveiled new titles from Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, and Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel, and offered details on the Vertigo Crime imprint, Seaguy sequels, and a hardcover collection of Death miniseries called, naturally, The Complete Death.

Other convention-related announcements:

• Del Rey has acquired several titles, including Shaenon Garrity’s CLAMP in America, Harvey Pekar’s Huntington, W.V On The Fly, Paul Hornschemier’s Life With Dr. Dangerous, and Brenden Burford’s Syncopated.

• Farscape creator Rockne O’Bannon will write BOOM! Studios’ previously announced adaptation of the sci-fi TV show.

• IDW Publishing will release a prequel to next summer’s Transformers movie.

• Dabel Bros. Publishing is adapting The Warriors, just in time for the cult film’s 30th anniversary.

• Artists Khoi Pham and Paolo Rivera have signed exclusive agreements with Marvel.

You can follow our complete Comic-Con coverage here.

The sequel to Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s Eisner Award-winning miniseries The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite now has a name and a release date.

Dark Horse announced at Comic-Con that The Umbrella Academy: The Scarecrow Blues Dallaswill debut in November, with Bá providing interior and cover art. (James Jean illustrated the covers for the previous miniseries.)

Way told PW Comics Week that the second volume will deal with the aftermath of the events in Apocalypse Suite: “You immediately start seeing the relationship between the characters, and it ends with a very big climax and some violence. I’m really excited about it.”

Updated Aug. 1 : Per Dark Horse Comics, the title of the next Umbrella Academy mini-series is actually Umbrella Academy: Dallas. We apologize for the error.

It’s been a pretty good week for brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá.

Thursday’s announcement that they’re illustrating the upcoming B.P.R.D.: 1947 miniseries was followed by a Wall Street Journal profile in which Hellboy creator Mike Mignola sang their praises.

Then came news yesterday that they’re creating a 10-issue miniseries for Vertigo called Daytripper, about “a guy who wants to be a writer and how the things you do in your life every day, there’s stuff that can determine what you’re going to do the rest of your life.” (That’s art from the series above, posted on the creators’ blog.)

How do you top that? Well, if you’re Moon and Bá, you win a combined three Eisner Awards: Bá for Best Limited Series for The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, with Gerard Way; Moon for Best Digital Comic for Sugarshock!, with Joss Whedon; and both for Best Anthology for 5, with Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos and Rafael Grampa.

Plus, they debuted — with Cloonan and Lolos — Pixu, the followup to the now award-winning 5.

All in all, not bad for one Comic-Con. (And there are still two days left!)

The Wall Street Journal spotlights twin brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, best known for their work, separately, on Casanova and The Umbrella Academy. But yesterday at Comic-Con the two were announced as the artists on Dark Horse’s upcoming B.P.R.D.: 1947 miniseries.

“They’re becoming hot properties,” Hellboy and B.P.R.D. creator Mike Mignola told the newspaper. “If we only get one book from them, that’s more than we deserve.”

Related: A slide show of some of Moon and Bá’s work

After several significant publishing announcements right out of the gate on Wednesday — among them, the Vertigo Crime imprint, Darwyn Cooke’s Parker adaptations and the BOOM! deal with Disney/Pixar — the first official day of Comic-Con seemed, well, subdued. At least as far as new projects go.

The biggest news on Thursday probably came from the “DC Nation” panel, where it was revealed that Kevin Smith will write a three-issue Batman miniseries called Cacophony, which features the villain Onomatopoeia from Smith’s 2000 run on Green Arrow. If you were planning some jokes about whether the miniseries will be late, or never finish, save them: Smith beat you to it.

And, surprising no one, Barry Allen will return in The Flash: Rebirth, by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver.

The “Mondo Marvel” panel introduced a handful of new titles, including an ongoing Agents of Atlas, Greg Pak and Leonardo Manco’s War Machine as a replacement for Iron Man: Director of SHIELD, the return of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon for a weekly Punisher: War Zone miniseries, and … an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s short story “The Electric Ant” by David Mack, with covers by Paul Pope.

Yeah, that last one seemed to surprise, or puzzle, a lot of folks.

At the X-Men panel, the next big X-event was revealed: X Infernus, a sequel, of sorts, to 1989’s Inferno crossover.

Other convention-related announcements:

• Virgin Comics and Perspective Studios rolled out their collaboration with writer Grant Morrison, MBX. It’s an animation franchise based on the ancient Indian epic the Mahabharata.

• Devil’s Due Publishing announced its new online initiative with Kevin Spacey’s talent-scouting website TriggerStreet.com.

• Wildstorm continued its licensing frenzy with a six-issue miniseries based on Electronic Arts’ upcoming video game Mirror’s Edge.

• And then there was the now-usual run of movie news: Bryan Singer’s Bad Hat Harry and Radical Pictures adapting Radical Publishing’s Freedom Formula miniseries; Landscape Entertainment picking up the rights to the Image miniseries Pretty, Baby, Machine, by Clark Westerman and Kody Chamberlain; and Disney renewing its first-look deal with Stan Lee’s POW Entertainment.

You can follow our complete Comic-Con coverage here.