Yahoo! Movies has the newest trailer for Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen. It’s the one that’s attached to Quantum of Solace, which opens this weekend. Click the link for a larger version.

Watchmen hits theaters on March 6.

Note: This was written before Tom had read the latest Newsarama interview with DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio.

Longtime readers know that Nightwing — and specifically, DC’s continuing struggle to do right by the character — has been a reliable source of blogging fodder (blodder?) for this column.

Why, just last month I wrote that Mr. Grayson should

embrace fully his ties to the Wayne family and to Batman. Nightwing requires a lot less explanation next to Batman (or even next to Robin) than he does out on his own, so if he’s there all the time, it might cut down on all the existence-justifying contortions.

If that means cancelling his solo title in favor of making him a regular supporting character in Batman and Detective (and Titans, of course), so be it.

And, uh, well … I’m sorry–?

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Wondering if that great Lord Death Man story in Bat-Manga! had any antecedents in the original, Western comics? Magic Carpet Burn has the answers you seek.

– Harry N. Abrams plans to publish Barry Deutsch’s acclaimed Webcomic Hereville in book form. Brigid Alverson has details.

– Steve Duin provides an update on S. Clay Wilson’s health. Short answer: “His condition has not improved significantly.”

– “There’s an exotica Americans find in my stories that’s lost on Israeli readers:” Nisha Gopalan interviews Israeli cartoonist Rutu Modan about her new book Jamilti.

– Colleen Doran is looking for a few good cartoonists to help her review data for the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines.

– Kai-Ming Cha has a great interview with editor Sean Michael Wilson about Top Shelf’s upcoming AX anthology. “We’re selecting it from the 10 year archive so we’re talking about some 20,000 pages. That’s a lot of stuff to choose from.”

– Peter Sanderson celebrates the 20th anniversary of Sandman with a look back.

– Sanderson also looks at the new Vertigo Encyclopedia.

– The Daily Cartoonist reports that editorial cartoonists Steve Greenberg and Lee Judge are being laid off from their respective newspapers.

– Things to do: David B and Igort will be at the Beguiling in Toronto this Saturday.

– Other things to do: Kim Deitch will be doing a Q&A event with Bill Kartalopoulos at MoCCA tomorrow night. From the pr: “In a unique and wide-ranging conversation, the two will discuss Deitch’s work and
career to date.  Deitch will preview images from his current works in progress and field questions from the audience.”

– Joe Sacco offers an insightful review of Guy Delisle’s Burma Chronicles.

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.

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Plot synopsis released for X-Men Origins: Magneto

The latest issue of Production Weekly includes a plot synopsis for David Goyer’s planned X-Men Origins: Magneto — one that includes an altered role for a certain bald telepath:

“The original X-Men film began with a prologue that showed the character as a child being led to a concentration camp by Nazis and that is the period in which the Magneto film will take place. This setup will allow a future villain to at least flirt with the designation of protagonist since the character will be seen almost exclusively in his formative years. The storyline will heavily involve Professor X, the wheelchair-using X-Men leader. That character was a soldier in the Allied force that liberated the concentration camps. The professor meets Magneto after the war and while they bond over the realization that they are alike in their special powers, their differences soon turn them into enemies.”

According to David Bentley of the Coventry Telegraph, an early draft of the script featured Charles Xavier as a staff member at an Israeli hospital, not as an Allied soldier.

It’s unclear when Magneto will begin production. In August, Goyer said he hadn’t decided whether to tackle this project or The Invisible Man next.

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Neil Gaiman, who’s been relatively mum about his upcoming turn on Batman with “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”, provides MTV’s Splash Page with a tease and a correction, but little else.

“It starts at a little bar, and Selina Kyle and Joe Chill come along,” Gaiman said over the weekend, “and after that, it gets really odd.”

He also confirmed that the Andy Kubert cover that made the rounds back in September isn’t the actual cover for #685: “What it was, was a trial of an idea to draw the cover of Batman #1, and it didn’t work out really well.”

Grant Morrision, who will return to the series after Gaiman’s two-parter, said “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” is “going to be quite a personal thing” unrelated to what follows.

“Think of it as Neil Gaiman’s Batman,” Morrison said. “It’s not about continuity. It’s more kind of an overall look at the whole mythos.”

Earlier this morning, J.K. linked to a new Watchmen character poster spotlighting Dr. Manhattan. It’s part of a series that debuted today across six pop-culture websites, from Wired to MTV to USA Today. Internet Movie Poster Awards rounds them up, noting that EW decided to post a tiny version of the Manhattan poster, while MTV (as usual) slapped its logo on the one for Silk Spectre.

You’ve already seen Manhattan, as well as Rorschach above. The others can be found after the break.

Update: I’ve added larger versions of Dr. Manhattan and Nite Owl, and a Silk Spectre poster without that annoying MTV watermark. You can see them all after the break.

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Our post last Friday on the controversy surrounding Chip Kidd’s Bat-Manga! and the question of whether or not manga-ka Jiro Kuwata should have gotten received a lot of attention over the weekend. I think the horse has been beaten pretty heavily into the ground by this point, but I thought a final run-down of who said what in response to Kidd’s statement might be in order.  Tom Spurgeon’s post was by far the most amusing response if you’re keeping score, but assuming you’re not, here’s a look at what the rest of the blogosphere had to say:

Laura Hudson:

I do understand Kidd’s argument and the distinction he’s making, but to me, the issue of how to classify the book has more to do with content than intent. As a reader, I didn’t experience Bat-Manga as a book of material about Batman in Japan; Kuwata wasn’t just example C in the context of a broader theme. His work is the book, the heart and meat and soul and sun of it, and everything else is just supplementary gravy. Maybe that wasn’t Kidd’s intention, but that’s how it turned out.

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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.

The Dark Knight strikes — and then strikes again

The Dark Knight is the gift that keeps on giving for Warner Bros. and Imax.

Hollywood gossip columnist Nikki Finke reports the blockbuster already has grossed $997.5 million worldwide — $528.5 million domestically and $469 million internationally — since its North American release on July 18, and should hit $1 billion any day now.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Dark Knight helped giant-screen exhibitor Imax reduce its third-quarter loss. For good measure, the movie is being re-released in Imax venues in January.

Rumor mill: McG being floated as Wonder Woman director

If I knew how to make the words “rumor mill” flash in giant magenta type, I’d use it for this item: IESB reports a “source at WB Burbank” says McG is rumored as the possible director for Warner Bros.’ adaptation of Wonder Woman.

I don’t know how much there is to it, though, as McG’s name seems to get attached to every third movie during the early stages of development. Still, IESB’s Robert Sanchez says “a few other industry insiders” have heard the rumor, too.

McG, who’s helming Terminator Salvation, also directed both Charlie’s Angels movies and We Are Marshall.

The mayor of a city in southeastern Turkey plans to sue director Christopher Nolan for unauthorized use of the name “Batman.”

You see, that’s the name of the city: Batman. It’s the the capital of Batman Province, an important oil-producing region. It rests on the banks of the Batman River.

I’m not making this up.

“The royalty of the name ‘Batman’ belongs to us,” Mayor Hüseyin Kalkan tells a Turkish news agency. “There is only one Batman in the world. The American producers used the name of our city without informing us.”

He tells Hürriyet Daily News that after a media spotlight was cast on the city last year because of an increasing suicide rate among women, a columnist asked why the mayor hadn’t sued the producers of the Batman movies for royalties to aid the struggling economy.

With that, a light bulb went off.

But there is, apparently, another issue at play: Residents of Batman who live abroad can’t use “Batman” in the names of their businesses because of trademark infringement.

Curiously, though, Kalkan’s wrath is reserved solely for Nolan. He doesn’t plan to sue DC Comics or Warner Bros.

Bizarro update: A commenter points to this 2007 article that states Kalkan “was awarded damages by DC Comics after a lawsuit over the use of his town’s name for the superhero Batman.” In February 2008, the mayor was sentenced to 10 months in prison for “spreading terrorist propaganda” in a newspaper interview.

– Over at his blog, Scott Saavedra notes that he is rather ill and could use financial help, either via donations or by purchasing his some of his art work. (hat tip: Tom Spurgeon)

– Bloggers Paul O’Brian and Alistair Kennedy have started a new podcast, titled House to Astonish. It’s going to be an every-other-week affair, and focus on comics news and reviews. The premiere episode looks at recent Batman books, Dark Horse’s Gigantic and other books.

– Chris Butcher has more to say on the Bat-Manga! controversy.

– Tom Spurgeon tells us what comics he’s reading online these days.

– David Baille emailed us to let us know what a busy beaver he is these days. He’s got his first ever story in 2000AD this week, animator David Hailwood has animated a couple of his Zombies Interviews strips, and, perhaps most significantly, he’s started a new Webcomic, the Belly Button Bubble Chronicles.

– The work of cartoonists Josh Neufeld and David Rees can currently be seen at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library through January 10, 2009. From the press release: “Neufeld will show material from his true-life graphic novel A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, and Rees will exhibit a collection of his “Clip-Art Comics.” Neufeld will be showing original pages, oversized giclée prints, and an example of the creative process from script to final art.”

– The Windy City Times talks to Alison Bechdel about the release of the new Dykes to Watch Out For collection.

– A quick reminder: Quentin Blake is awesome.

– For your Monday enjoyment: Ten years of New Yorker covers.

Josh Brolin still isn’t sure about Jonah Hex

There was at least some truth to the rumor-mill report last month about Josh Brolin playing Jonah Hex in the upcoming Mark Neveldine-Brian Taylor adaptation.

Brolin, star of W. and No Country for Old Men, is mulling over the part but he hasn’t — in the words of the original story — “locked down the deal.” IESB says nothing has been signed, and Collider reports Brolin may end up working on a Tony Scott movie.

The Warner Bros. adaptation of the DC Comics Western anti-hero was announced in July 2007. In March, producer Andrew Lazar said he wants to film Jonah Hex in New Orleans, for a potential 2010 release.

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Add singer-actress Beyoncé Knowles to the ever-growing list of stars who would like to play superheroes on the big screen.

“I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman?” she tells The Los Angeles Times’ Geoff Boucher. “It would be great. And it would be a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It’s time for that, right?”

While Beyoncé isn’t the first actress to throw her lasso into the ring, she may be among the few to actually meet with representatives of Warner Bros. and DC Comics to let them know just how much she desires the role.

Maybe Beyoncé, who co-starred in Austin Powers in Goldmember and Dream Girls, is just what — or, rather, who — Wonder Woman needs to finally get the movie off the ground.

The project has languished in Hollywood development hell for years, as a parade of screenwriters took turns at a script. The movie finally showed real signs of life in March 2005, when Joss Whedon was brought on board to write and direct.

However, in February 2007, Whedon bowed out because of creative differences with Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver. Even before his departure was made public, the studio bought a script from a pair of newcomers, supposedly as a preemptive measure to protect itself from a plagiarism lawsuit. But considering that their story took place during World War II, and Whedon’s was set in the present, that seems unlikely.

In October 2007, Silver announced Wonder Woman had been put on hold so the studio could focus on the Justice League movie. When that much-maligned ensemble project was officially “tabled” in April 2008, Silver said of Wonder Woman: “It’s sitting there, and when I figure out a way to do it, I’ll do it.”

So, could Beyoncé be the answer Silver is looking for?

Yahoo! Movies has another new poster for Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen, which will open on March 6, 2009.

While the release of the new Bat-Manga! book has largely met with strong publicity and good reviews, there’s been a bit of controversy recently, as some reviewers and bloggers have noted that manga-ka Jiro Kuwata, whose Batman stories make up the bulk of the book, is not credited on the cover or title page of the book. His name only appears on the inside flap initially, though Kidd does credit him in the introduction, includes a one-page interview with him and dedicates the book to him as well. Laura Hudson has a round-up of comments and offers her own thoughts on the matter:

even if we accept that Kidd et al. played a very important role in designing and presenting this book to an American audience, I’m not sure how that justifies the de facto usurping of authorship here, or the diminishment of the role played by the actual creator of these materials, without whom Kidd and friends would have had nothing to compile, edit, and claim as their own.

I had interviewed Kidd last week about the new book and decided to email him to see if he had anything to say about the controversy. Here is his response:

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