The news that Hostess is to file for bankruptcy should send nostalgic shivers down the spines of superheroes worldwide, given the multiple crimes the company’s snack foods helped prevent in the 1970s and ’80s; from 1975 through 1982, ads for Hostess Fruit Pies, Twinkies and other products appeared in both Marvel and DC comics, each one an original one-page strip featuring a superhero from that publisher’s stable using the “tasty snack” of choice to distract criminals, monsters and other ne’er-do-wells from destruction, thievery and other unfortunate rampages against society. For those who haven’t seen them, the strips were variations on a theme, all written to the same basic formula but weirdly enjoyable for that very reason, reducing characters to stereotype and snack-obsessed mindsets; there’s a selection available here for you to sample them for yourself. Of course, for those of us who grew up reading these strips, the very name “Hostess” has a very specific nostalgia, not so much for the snacks themselves, but the ads, and the kinds of comics that they appeared in. Remember when comic book ads weren’t just for more comics and the occasional movie or TV show…?

The news that Walt Simonson is not only returning to Marvel, but drawing Brian Michael Bendis’ last arc on Avengers, makes me think about Marvel’s talent management vs. DC’s. For whatever reason – I’m tempted to say “The fact that there’s little else to work on, there” – Marvel has a tendency to use big name creators on big name books, as opposed to DC, where the same creators often work on smaller, more personal, projects. It’s not just Simonson – who, in his time at DC, bounced around titles like Wonder Woman, World of Warcraft, DC Universe: Legacies, JSA Classified and his Orion series that still really, really deserves to be collected thank you very much – but consider Warren Ellis, who went from barely touching the DCU when he was under DC Exclusive (His footprint was, what, one JLA Classified arc?) to writing Ultimate Fantastic Four, Astonishing X-Men and Iron Man for Marvel as well as Nextwave, newuniversal and Secret Avengers; Andy Diggle, whose DCU work consisted of, I think, Green Arrow Year One before jumping ship to Marvel and Daredevil and Thunderbolts; or Brian Wood, who didn’t work on any DCU characters before going to Marvel and starting Wolverine and The X-Men: Alpha and Omega.

There’s almost certainly more to it than Marvel offering (a) a lot of money and (b) not a lot of choice of available projects to creators; in Wood’s case, at least, we know that he had pitched for DCU work and not landed the gig, and for all we know, Diggle and Simonson were in similar boats (Somehow, I doubt that Ellis falls into the same camp), but I find the disconnect interesting. It feels like it’s only recently, with Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder’s lead, that DC has really become comfortable with using “Vertigo creators” in their DCU books, and so perhaps that also contributes to the weird discrepancy. But it ends with interesting results, such as this Simonson news, which Marvel can easily play as “Comics Great Walter Simonson Returns To Superhero Comics!” without that much fear of contradiction.

The news that Batman and Detective Comics will be gaining back-up strips to accompany Action Comics, All-Star Western, Men of War and Justice League in DC’s “$3.99 for 40 Pages Club” makes me think of how shortlived the “Drawing The Line at $2.99″ experiment really was for DC – It only launched last January, and lasted just eight months before The New 52 reinstituted the $3.99 price point. Now, we’re seeing more books being “upgraded” to the format, along with back-ups, which makes me wonder whether DC is admitting that the $2.99 pricing isn’t inherently more attractive to the mass audience despite a vocal minority saying otherwise? After all, both Action and Justice League have been top-sellers since launch even though they cost $3.99… If Batman and Detective continue their sales dominance with the new pricing, how long before even more DC books go to this format? How many New 52 books will be $2.99 and 20 pages by this time next year…?

Colorist extraordinaire Matt Wilson explains how he approached a scene from Wonder Woman #4 in order to clarify what was happening:

The first [challenge] is that we have our group of characters split up, and in different parts of the club, and I knew that I could use color help the reader understand which part of the bar each character occupied. There are also quite a few panels with a lot of people drawn in them, and if I were to do my job poorly the art could flatten out and become hard to read. I had to make sure that I did a good job of separating planes (foreground, middleground, background) to properly show the depth of space in the club. In this case coloring different areas of the club with different color schemes solved both problems. These different colored “pools” of light include the blue-green seating area, the yellow bar area, the red stage area, and the crowd being a transition between red (stage) and blue-green (seating area) ending up a pink-ish/purple.

To further explain, he creates a simplified take on certain pages, as well as offering the finished colors:

It’s a really nice look into the thought that goes into coloring, as well as how important it is to the final page – Look at how differently the two versions of the same page above read on first glance.

So the Mystery DC Hooded Stranger is called Pandora, is she? Sure, as Michael suggests, that name draws all manner of connections to the Pandora of Greek myth, who had a box (Really an urn, but “Pandora’s Urn” really doesn’t sound quite as good) filled with the evils of the world, but what if it’s something else? What if it’s actually a revival of a DC character that never even managed to see print the first time around?

I know, it sounds like some kind of Sentry-esque fake-out, but way back in 1981 DC announced a new series called Pandora Pan by Len Wein and Ross Andru that was described as the adventures of “the assistant of an archaeologist who unwittingly opens Pandora’s Box and spends the rest of her time trying to retrieve the evil she has unleashed by doing so.” The series was slated to get a preview in Saga of The Swamp Thing #5, before being launched as a full-series later that year. Neither the 15 page completed preview or the series appeared, with Wein later saying that he couldn’t remember what had happened to the series (Arak launched as a series in its place).

Admittedly, it’s unlikely that the mysterious hooded woman is really “the assistant of an archaeologist,” but I have to admit, there’s something interesting about the idea that she’s a character who’s accidentally unleashed something terrible on the world and is trying to clean up her own mess. I guess we’ll find out what’s going on with this new phantom stranger when she next appears in Justice League…

On Thursday, TV Guide debuted two new photos of Erica Durance — Smallville‘s Lois Lane — dressed in a Wonder Woman costume on the Jan. 11 episode of NBC legal series Harry’s Law.

That alone would be worth at least a modicum of fannish interest, but when you consider the added wrinkle that David E. Kelley — he of the doomed NBC Wonder Woman pilot that became a mild national nightmare in the spring of 2011 — is also behind Harry’s Law, and it becomes a full-on, C&C Music Factory-esque thing that makes you go hmm. And, as you can see from the photo below, it happens to be pretty much the exact same costume as Adrianne Palicki wore in the mostly-never seen pilot:

No matter what you think of these photos, though, they still don’t highlight the main reason to watch Harry’s Law: prolific character actor Christopher McDonald, better known as Happy Gilmore’s Shooter McGavin.

Anne Hathaway, who, if you don’t know by now is portraying Selina Kyle/Catwoman in next summer’s The Dark Knight Rises, spoke to LA Times Hero Complex with some interesting things to say about how her portrayal will be different from other versions, but still true to the essence of who Catwoman is and how she is influenced by Gotham City.

“What’s come before doesn’t limit or even affect this new version. It doesn’t affect me because each Catwoman – and this is true in the comics as well – she is defined by the context of the Gotham City created around her. Catwoman is so influenced by Gotham and whoever is creating Gotham at the time… You have to live in whatever the reality of the world is and whatever Gotham is.” She continues with how Heath Ledger’s now legendary performance is on par with what she’s aiming for. “Gotham City is full of grace. You look at Heath’s performance as the Joker, there was a lot of madness there but there was also a grace and he had a code there. There’s a lot of belief and codes of behavior in Gotham and my character has one, too. A lot of the way she moves and interacts with people is informed by her worldview. Chris has given us all such complex, defined, sophisticated worldviews that it’s just a matter of doing your homework and getting underneath the character’s skin.”

Interesting way of putting Ledger’s performance. Something I hadn’t ever really thought of since Joker practically got rid of any beliefs about criminals and their methods as he brought a more chaotic feel to the crimeworld. Hathaway also goes into her motivation of the way she’s going about the character as film siren Hedy Lamarr was a key influence on the Catwoman character. “I know this sounds odd, but her breathing is extraordinary,” Hathaway said. “She takes these long, deep, languid breaths and exhales slowly. There’s a shot of her in [the 1933 film] ‘Ecstasy’ exhaling a cigarette and I took probably five breaths during her one exhale. So I started working on my breathing a lot.”

Also over at the interview, there is a scene synopsis that is only hinted in the newest trailer that gives more details about Catwoman and Bane’s rapport and that DKR might draw more influence from the Batman arc “Knightfall” than I had certainly anticipated. Spoiler Alert now has been initiated.
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If you’re concerned that DC’s plans for Watchmen 2 sound a little like a bad idea, maybe you want to take a look at this online petition to stop the project:

We, the undersigned recognize the rights of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons as co-creators of Watchmen, and we strongly object to DC’s continued marketing of this property against the intent of the original contract and the wishes of one of its creators. Further, we abhor DC’s frequent attempts to knowingly act in opposition to Moore’s wishes, and their attempts to profit off of Watchmen merchandise without paying royalties to the work’s creators.

Until such a time as DC Comics can make things right with Moore and reach an accord in which he approves of and endorses further Watchmen sequels, we ask DC to act ethically and in the spirit and intent of the original contract and cease any plans to create derivative works without the permission and approval of the creators, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. We further ask that all writers and artists refuse to work on any derivative works related to Watchmen until DC, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons are all in agreement on the creation of new Watchmen properties.

The petition is up at Change.org, a great site that usually uses its powers for important social issues (Forcing Bank of America to drop its proposed debit card fee, asking JC Penney to improve fire safety regulations in foreign locations, preventing corporations from buying state parkland they’ve contaminated, and so on), and was created by noted comics commentator and curmudgeon Alan David Doane, who announced the petition in traditionally subtle manner on his Trouble With Comics blog. To date, 31 people have signed the petition since it was launched yesterday; I look forward to seeing how many more will sign in the next few days, and what effect (if any) they’ll expect it to have on DC. For that matter, I wonder how long it’ll be before we see similar petitions protesting both DC’s use of Superman and Marvel’s use of all of the Jack Kirby creations, considering both estates are claiming at least co-ownership of those characters, something that seems at least as “ethically dubious” as Watchmen 2.

To the surprise of no-one, the most recent trailer for The Dark Knight Rises has broken the record for the number of views within the 24 hour period following its release. According to ICv2, the trailer was viewed a staggering 12.5 million times in the day after it went live on Apple’s site, over 2 million more times than the previous record holder, Marvel’s Avengers. Of course, there’s no way of telling how many of those views came from people trying to make out what Bane was actually saying underneath that mask of his, but still: Consider the battle for 2012 superhero movie supremacy fully on.

After what seems like an impressive amount of prodding, leaks and rumors, DC Comics seems to have finally confirmed the idea of a Watchmen 2 this weekend with the wording of a cease-and-desist letter sent to Bleeding Cool following the site’s posting of what appeared to be development art from the project by JG Jones and Andy and Joe Kubert. The art, since removed in compliance with DC’s request, showed Jones’ take on the Comedian, with the Kuberts taking on Nite-Owl (The site’s Rich Johnston also announced that Amanda Conner would be drawing a Silk Spectre project, but didn’t have any original art connected to that particular project); in response, DC’s SVP of Business and Legal Affairs Amy Jenkins sent a letter that said that the site could not have posted the artwork “without the breach of a confidentiality obligation,” as much an admission of the project’s existence as we’re likely to get before DC makes its official announcement.

According to Johnston, there will be four mini-series in the first wave of this project, which means one is still out there, unnamed (Rorschach? Dr. Manhattan? Ozymandias?); the writer most recently connected with the project – apparently codenamed “Panic Room” at the publisher, which is spectacular – is Darwyn Cooke, and I have to admit that I’d love to see Cooke channel his inner Ditko with a Rorschach mini…

It’s the new Dark Knight Rises trailer. Merry early Christmas, everyone.

If DC’s Justice League Beyond going digital first before seeing print in next year’s ongoing Batman Beyond series made you hopeful that the publisher was considering a push towards more digital debuts, EVP Sales, Marketing and Business Development John Rood has some bad news for you on the latest edition of the Word Balloon podcast:

I think you’ll see us still experimenting, but I don’t think that any time soon digital first will expand greatly as a tool in our toolbox, you know? It’s something we’re experimenting with, but it’s not something that’s going to take a greater share of voice in the coming months. I don’t expect bigger ticket items, in terms of the effort to edit and create them, and then the effort to sell and pay for them, to be digital first any time soon.

There goes my dream of a digital-first Grant Morrison-written World of Krypton mini-series, I guess…

Jim Lee has designed a t-shirt for Free Comic Book Day 2012 — and, well here’s what it’ll look like (except picture it with sleeves and stuff):

The image comes courtesy of The Source, and as you can see, it’s the main seven members of The New 52′s Justice League, in all of their revamped splendor. The shirt will be solicited in January 2012′s Previews catalog, with proceeds supporting the Free Comic Book Day effort. This time around, Free Comic Book Day hits on May 5, 2012 — the day after Avengers debuts in theaters.

As noted by DC, the piece is an homage to José Luis García-López — check the original work after the jump.

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With, it seems, the New 52 reclaiming the classic DC properties, many have been wondering what kind of future the Vertigo imprint had to look forward to. Yesterday’s solicitations might have answered that question with the revelation that March 2012 will see the launch of four new ongoing titles, the biggest push the imprint has seen in recent memory. Both Selwyn Seyfu Hinds and Denys Cowan’s Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child and Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelly’s Saucer Country have had previews in recent anthology oneshots, and Fairest is a known quantity by the fact that it’s a Fables spin-off (That said, a Bill Willingham/Phil Jiminez pairing for the launch story seems like a strong first-foot-forward), but Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard’s The New Deadwardians remains an enticing mystery for now.

Vertigo titles hardly race up the DM charts, but recent ongoing launches like The Unwritten, American Vampire and Sweet Tooth have been both acclaimed and had some buzz about them, seemingly leading a critical renaissance for the line. It’ll be interesting to see how these new books turn out, and whether Vertigo becomes the place for DC’s new ideas, while the DCU is the sales engine where old ideas are kept fresh through relaunches and revamps.

Announced today on DC’s official publicity blog The Source and quickly buried by the flurry of March 2012 solicitation information, the Tiny Titans creative team of Art Baltazar and Franco are teaming up for a new series titled Superman Family Adventures, starting next year. There isn’t a known start date yet for the series, but it’s being previewed in the “DC Nation 2012 Free Comic Book Day Super Sampler,” coming to shops on May 5. Says DC of the book: “The series will be starring (you guessed it!) the whole Superman gang – Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor, Bizarro, General Zod and … Fuzzy the Krypto Mouse!”

If you were wondering when Jim Lee would need a fill-in artist on Justice League, your answer arrived today, via The Source: March’s Justice League #7, the first issue to take place in the present day of The New 52. Relieving a guy like Jim Lee takes a high-profile artist, and they got one: Top 10‘s Gene Ha, who will be illustrating issue #7 and #8, with Lee coming back with #9. Issue #7 also happens to host the first installment of the previously announced “The Curse of Shazam” back-ups by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank; Frank talked to Newsarama about that here.

We also now know who is going to be drawing Ann Nocenti’s Green Arrow, thanks once again to The Source: Harvey Tolibao, seen recently over at Marvel on Heroes for Hire and Silver Surfer. That also starts in March, with Green Arrow #7.

Black-and-white preview pages from both projects are after the jump.

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Something that’s pretty much died out in recent years – recent decades, really, as video and then DVD and blu-ray made movies available for audiences to rewatch at home – has been the comic book adaptation. Comic fans of a certain age probably share my fond memories of comics based on movies like Alien, Blade Runner and even the Star Trek and Star Wars adaptations. So, imagine my surprise when, while re-reading old Legion of Super-Heroes issues the other night, I saw this in one of the publishorial columns:

And then, a month later:

Now, this comic clearly didn’t happen. But why? I reached out to Marv Wolfman, who sadly didn’t remember what happened to the project. Part of me cynically thinks “Maybe someone at DC realized how weird a Lethal Weapon comic would have been for 1980s DC,” but presumably if it got far enough to have a creative team attached, that has already been addressed. So, internet! If anyone out there knows more about this never-seen project, get in touch! The world wants to know what it missed.

In the latest DC New 52 creative shakeup, Paul Jenkins, currently the writer of Batman: The Dark Knight and DCU Presents‘ first six issues, will be taking over Stormwatch in March 2012 – but only for two issues.

Writing issues 7 and 8, as announced on DC’s The Source blog, Jenkins will be telling the story of inter-dimensional raiders coming to steal Earth’s gravity. Sounds like a “heavy” tale (I’m so sorry). On the blog, editor Pat McCallum said of the story:

“The Stormwatch crew can’t ever catch a break — no simple threats like bloodthirsty monsters or world-dominating supervillains to stop, it’s always some mind-cracking knot that Apollo, Midnighter and the rest of the crew have to untie,” says editor Pat McCallum. “This time out, Stormwatch have to solve the puzzle of dimension-stepping gravity miners, creatures so alien they’re not even technically alive. The last stand of humanity or, as Stormwatch calls it, ‘Monday.’”

No word on who will be writing the series with issue #9. Current series writer Paul Cornell announced he is off the book after issue #6 and won’t be returning on his Twitter account. He is staying on his other DC New 52 title, Demon Knights, however.

What does Fables creator Bill Willingham think of the similarities between his series and the ABC show Once Upon A Time? Well, he interviewed himself over at CBR to explain:

Is “Once Upon a Time” (which we should now refer to as “Once” for brevity) a rip off of “Fables?”

My best guess, based upon the scanty evidence, is probably not.

Is “Once” influenced and at least in part inspired by “Fables?”

Despite superficial similarities, “Fables” creator Bill Willingham firmly believes any similarities “Once Upon A Time” has to his comic is simply a result of working form the same source material

My best guess, based upon the same scanty evidence is, yes, it probably is, but perhaps not on more than a “this is the type of thing that’s in the air these days” level.

He goes on to elaborate on the crossover between the concepts for the show and the series, and their similarities, before explaining that what he’s trying to do is “a call to arms — or more accurately, a call to disarm”:

As grateful as I am to discover so many loyal “Fables” readers, willing to man the barricades, to help protect a story they love; as much as it moves me to realize I’ve been part in creating something that clearly moves you, affecting your lives in ways only a good story, well-told can, I think it’s time to lay off. Perhaps it’s time to quit rising up in public venues to accuse these folks of Grand Theft “Fables,” even if you still think it’s so.

I’m quite enjoying Once Upon A Time, in part because I just enjoy seeing Jennifer Morrison’s attempt at being a badass private eye/bounty hunter on a weekly basis; I also love Fables, so I’m glad to see Willingham being so calm about similiarities between the two.

If you’re hoping to see the six minute “prologue” for The Dark Knight Rises that’s accompanying Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in theaters December 16th, you’d better hope that your local theater has the right IMAX set-up. Warner Bros. is only releasing the preview scenes to theaters with specific equipment, leaving a lot of fans destined for disappointment. The full list of the theaters that will get the prologue is under the jump. Everyone else: I feel your pain; there’s no theater near me, either. (more…)