• Colleen Doran sent this one over to me — check out some really nice preview pages from an as-yet-unpublished book called Elf~Fin: Hyfus and Tilaweed. They’re looking for a publisher, by the way.

• High Moon creator David Gallaher has a new column over at ComicMix called Mixing It Up, where he “experiences the world beyond comics to discuss the influences, hobbies, and thoughts of your favorite artists and writers.” In the first column, he joins his fellow Zuda compatriots Johnny Zito and Tony Trov for Zombie Prom in Philadelphia.

• If you crave some additional reports from SPX beyond what Chris Mautner has shared so far, you can check out reports from The Beat, Ben Towle, The Daily Cross Hatch, Zack Smith and the Cool Kids Table, a new blog by Marvel’s Ben Morse, DC’s Rickey Purdin and freelancer Kiel Phegley.

• Laura Hudson, meanwhile, returns from SPX wanting to break up with mainstream superhero comics. “Coming directly off of my weekend at SPX, as well as recently reading a string of excellent, engrossing non-superhero graphic novels like Skim, Swallow Me Whole, and Alan’s War, picking up a comic book like Nightwing #149 feels a lot like shutting my hand in a car door,” she says. “And I’m thinking — I’m thinking I should stop doing that.”

• Wayne Alan Harold has pictures from the Mid-Ohio Con.

• Fortress of Fortitude remembers Ann Nocenti’s awesome run on Daredevil.

• SLG is now accepting digital submissions. SLG chief Jennifer de Guzman also has some tips for what she looks for in a submission.

• The Exterminape cometh.

• Todd Dezago, writer of Perhapanauts, is holding a scary story contest on his blog.

• “I remember going from $20 dollars a page, pencil and ink, to $40 a page, pencil and ink. And then, the next two years, every time I took a job in, I got a cut and I ended up at $20 a page again. We were flying without a parachute. I used to be afraid of getting a mortgage.” — John Romita Sr.

• And finally, blogger Sean Kleefeld looks at online comics that are eventually published in print form and the “extras” that they add to the print version.

Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie offer a glimpse at the first five pages of Phonogram: The Singles Club #1, plus samples of the “B-Sides” — back-up stories featuring work by creators such as Marc Ellerby, PJ Holden and Emma Vieceli.

The Singles Club, a follow-up to the 2006-2007 miniseries Rue Britannia, debuts in December from Image Comics.

While everyone was following the play-by-play of the Bendis/Kirkman discussion from this weekend’s Baltimore Comic Con, this one seemed to sneak up on us, and it looks like a lot of fun. At the Image panel a Madman: The Movie project was announced, written by Mike Allred and featuring artwork by Darwyn Cooke.

Although Comic Book Resources’ panel report didn’t include details on when we could expect it, I’m a big fan of both men’s work and can say I’ll be looking forward to Cooke’s interpretations of Allred’s characters whenever it does eventually come out.

Allred drops by our comments section to clarify what was announced:

Yeah, dunno how this got so wonky, but Darwyn and frequent inker, J. Bone are doing a KILLER story for MADMAN Atomic Comics no.14. Not a movie adaptation.

Bone wrote the story outline and Darwyn is drawing it. The three of us jammed on the final wrap around cover which you see in part here.

The story involves Frank “Madman” Einstein and his girl, Joe, going to a “Movie studio fun park”. That somehow became misinterpreted as what has been reported here.

The MADMAN MOVIE continues to move forward with Robert Rodriguez, slowly but surely. I’ve been working with him and George “Swimming With Sharks” Huang on putting together the best possible MADMAN movie for several years. I’m confident that we are well over halfway there.

And THRILLED with where we are on our progress and BLOWN AWAY with what Darwyn and J. are doing with their far out MADMAN tale!

So, there is very very much to be excited about, but to be very clear, it is NOT an adaptation of the movie.

Producer Michael De Luca (21) is bringing the Mark Millar-Tony Harris comic War Heroes to the big screen for Sony’s Columbia Pictures.

The Image Comics miniseries, whose second issue came out last week, takes place in the near future, where the U.S. military gives superpowers to ordinary soldiers: “When a small group of recruits break off to use these powers for a criminal enterprise, a hero rises from their ranks to prevent catastrophic results.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Millar and Harris will executive produce, along with Zach Schiff-Abrams. No screenwriter has been attached.

MySpace Comic Books has the complete first issue of Mice Templar, the anthropomorphic medieval fantasy by Michael Avon Oeming and Bryan J.L. Glass.

Part of me wants to believe the painstakingly detailed shots of male genitalia — shown from the front and from the rear (and slightly below) — in War Heroes #2 serve as some kind of statement on the double standard applied in popular entertainment to the depiction of the nude form. Women are frequently shown completely naked, while men rarely are.

But the more cynical part of me realizes they’re probably designed to draw an “OMG! WTF! Wang!” response from a (somewhat) shocked readership unaccustomed to seeing a penis and scrotum looming large in its comics.

If that wasn’t the intent of writer Mark Millar and artist Tony Harris, it seems to be the result — at least if the War Heroes #2 thread at Millarworld is any indication: More than half of the comments focus on the genitalia in question, and not all of them favorably.

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– Build your own square-headed Scott Pilgrim.

– Charles Brownstein with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund passes on a message about Echo creator Terry Moore and his wife Robyn, who live in Houston and were affected by Hurricane Ike:

As you may be aware, the Abstract Studios team, Terry & Robyn Moore, live in Houston where they are set back slightly by Hurricane Ike. They personally are fine, but don’t have any utilities, including electricity and other business necessities. They’re only able to be online for about 10 minutes a day because of very nice neighbors. They want people to know that they’re going to be out of touch for about a week, and ask that you please be patient while they get back up to speed. Please join me in keeping them in your thoughts.

– Congrats to the cartoonist Kaz, who won an Emmy for his story on an episode of Camp Lazlo!

– PWCW previews the New York Anime Festival.

– Bid adieu to The Holy Consumption.

– Dave Sim reviews Blake Bell’s book about Steve Ditko.

– Frank Santoro writes about Frank Franzetta.

– Here’s a profile of mangaka Shigeru Mizuki.

– Stephanie Mangold looks at Antarctic Press’ future plans.

– Hey, Chester Brown is running for office!

– Evie Nagy reports on Oni’s plan to publish “definitive editions” of Queen and Country.

– Van Jensen writes about the popularity of Image’s PopGun anthology.

– The Southern California comics retailer Brave New World Comics is hosting a party this Friday to celebrate their Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award.

– Eight reasons why the G.I. Joe comic was better than the cartoon.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

In his latest “MyCup O’ Joe” Q&A, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada addresses Robert Kirkman’s call for creators to focus more on original work rather than producing corporate-owned comics:

Look, the hard reality is that work-for-hire keeps every facet of the entertainment industry going, and that includes comics. It makes no difference if you’re a big-name talent or lesser known. And for a very clear sample of that, Robert needs to look no further than most of the other partners at Image Comics, who, after launching their creator-owned ideas, now run their businesses through work-for-hire. I don’t say this to be disparaging, just as a matter of fact.

Robert also states that in the work-for-hire world, when you’re hot you’re hot and when you’re not…your career is over. He also states that it’s been “proven” that creators have longer careers in the world of creator-owned. Well, “proven” is pretty hard to quantify, no less validate, and for every guy who has had a long career in the world of creator-owned, I could find just as many, if not more, who have been doing work-for-hire for just as long if not longer. Also, from my perspective, the “hot and not” argument has no boundaries and applies to whether you’re doing work-for-hire or creator-owned. The big difference is—and this is important—when you’re “not hot” in the world of work-for-hire, you can still get work doing your thing on lesser-selling titles if you’re talented. It’s still possible to make a decent living. However, when you’re “not hot” in the world of creator-owned, you run the risk of starving to death.

There’s plenty more about creator-owned work at the link, including references to an idea Quesada has “percolating” for a creator-owned property that could appear in 2010.

Slashfilm reports on a rumor of behind-the-scenes grumblings as the movie pitch for Mark Millar and Tony Harris’ War Heroes winds its way through Hollywood.

If the article is to be believed, some studio executives have noticed the new Image comic-as-film-proposal is similar in concept to Grunts, the 2006 miniseries by Shannon Denton and Keith Giffen. The wheels have been turning on the Grunts adaptation for a couple of years.

I’ve not read either comic, so I can’t speak directly to shared concepts, beyond that they’re both war comics that employ super-powered soldiers. Grunts is set in World War II, while War Heroes is in the near-future. The former has been described as “24 meets The X-Men,” and the latter as “Full Metal Jacket meets The X-Men.”

Of course, I’d wager about a third of high-concept pitches right now end with “meets The X-Men,” “meets The Dark Knight” and “meets Harry Potter.”

What’s more, it wouldn’t be the first — or 21st — time that movies with similar themes or subject have been developed, or released, at or around the same time: Valmont and Dangerous Liaisons, Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, Dante’s Peak and Volcano, Robin Hood and Prince of Thieves.

David Fincher’s planned $100 million adaptation of Torso could pull out of Cleveland if Ohio officials don’t come through with tax breaks for Paramount Pictures.

The true-crime thriller, based on the 1998-1999 Image miniseries by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, is set to begin shooting early next year in the Cleveland, where the infamous “Torso Murders” took place. But The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that studio officials want financial incentives to film in Ohio.

Matt Damon is said to be interested in playing Eliot Ness, the legendary Treasury Department agent who later became Cleveland’s public safety officer. When torsos began appearing in 1934, Ness assembled a team of former officers in an unsuccessful effort to apprehend the so-called “Mad Butcher.”

Although Ohio doesn’t offer tax incentives or rebates to entice movie studios, neighboring Michigan does. Producer Bill Mechanic told the Plain Dealer that without the tax breaks, the studio will likely shoot interior scenes in Michigan and use Cleveland only for streetscapes.

Neil Kleid and Paul Salvi’s Action, Ohio came in second place in the Zuda competition a few months back, but now Kleid announces on his blog that the comic will return at Shadowline.com.

Kleid has quite a few irons in the fire, as well as a baby on the way in October, and unfortunately that means Shadowline’s gain is our loss … this week’s Take That! column, it turns out, is going to be his last. I want to thank Neil for contributing to the blog; while not all of his columns during his brief run were well-received, he had some that were absolutely brilliant. Best of luck with the new baby and all of your current work, and as always, Neil, you’re welcome to return anytime.

Amazing Joy Buzzards/Aqua Leung writer Mark Andrew Smith dropped us a note about a contest the art site Satellite Soda is holding. The deadline for submissions is midnight Pacific Sept. 23:

To celebrate the second volume of Amazing Joy Buzzards titled “Monster Love” (Well, technically it is the third volume and all-new material) in November, Satellite Soda is having an Amazing Joy Buzzards art battle where the winner’s pin-up will be printed in the new volume of Amazing Joy Buzzards.

It’s going down here! Be sure to check in often and watch the battle as it unfolds!:

http://www.satellitesoda.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3691

– The upcoming Image anthology Liquid City gets a website.

– Registration for the 2009 Comic-Con International is now open.

– Amazon is offering monthly comic book subscriptions now. Via.

– Doug Wolk on Blake Bell’s Steve Ditko book.

– Frank Santoro muses about Big Numbers.

– Tom Spurgeon on the modern comic strip.

Compiled by Chris and JK.

Forget Oprah … The New York Times blog The Moment shares the “one in five” cover for Savage Dragon #137, featuring the Dragon giving Obama his support:

Politicians have graced the pages of comic books before, for a guest appearance or two, and will again in October, as the subject of comic book biographies. An endorsement seems like the natural next step. Larsen is pleased with his story, which will mention Obama, though the senator will not make an appearance in the issue. “He’s not slugging bad guys or anything like that — although that would be cool,” Larsen says. The comic does, however, include McCain supporters. But don’t be confused. Savage Dragon definitely leans Democrat — a cover dating back to the last presidential campaign showed Mr. Dragon taking a swing at President Bush.

The new issue goes on sale Sept. 3, and one in five copies will have the Obama cover. No word at this point whom Superman plans to vote for.

Two days ago Comic Book Resources posted a video editorial from Image partner Robert Kirkman — “a call to arms for fellow creators to focus solely on their original stories, instead of the licensed work from the big 2 comic book companies, Marvel and DC,” according to John Siuntres of Word Balloons.

Since then, folks have been talking, which of course is always the point of something like this. Here’s where folks are speaking their minds …

The most active and probably most interesting discussion, which Stephanie Chan pointed out to me, is over at the Bendis Board. It’s over 40 pages of comments (probably more by now) and features comments from Randy Jarrell, B. Clay Moore, Patrick Zircher, Andy Kuhn, C.B. Cebulski, Ed Brubaker and Brian Michael Bendis, among many others.

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– This is fantastic news.

– The Sydney Morning Herald talks to Marjane Satrapi.

– Not everyone’s fond of Gary Panter it seems.

– Manga completists will want to buy the Black Jack hardcover editions it seems.

– Forbidden Planet shows us what Bryan Talbot is working on next.

– Chris Mautner interviews Jason.

– Jim Mahfood designs Colt .45 cans.

– This is pretty cool; using Flash, Plasmic Studios has a great “poster to poster” comparison going for the Watchmen posters.

– Time delves into the Stephen King/Marvel web thing, N.

– Jay Faerber talks about Urban Myths and Dynamo 5.

– Speaking of Urban Myths, it’s currently ahead in Top Cow’s Pilot Season competition, with Genius coming in at no. 2.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

Comic Book Resources has posted a video editorial from Walking Dead creator and recently named Image partner Robert Kirkman. I’d tell you what it says, but to CBR’s credit, they made it embeddable, so you can watch it for yourself right here:

James Sime from Isotope Comics in San Francisco posts the “super-extra-special-awesome-ultra-limited-rare-incentive-exclusive-cocaine-white-tour-edition” cover for War Heroes, which Mark Millar and Tony Harris will be signing at various shops throughout August:

This is the “super-extra-special-awesome-ultra-limited-rare-incentive-exclusive-cocaine-white-tour-edition” that is only available at stops on the tour that Mark & Tony will be gloriously defacing and scrawling upon. Shops can sell them for whatever they’d like which is why they have no cover price. I think of these as a reward for people who attend the event at the Isotope so mine are going for the regular price of $2.99. They are limited to only 80 copies per shop.

The complete tour schedule can be found after the jump …

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More details on the Isotope Comics website.

I linked over to the Top Cow Pilot Season MySpace page earlier this week so people could go vote for their favorite comic in this year’s competition, but now Top Cow has provided us with our very own voting station. So vote early and often (but not more than once per day) below. EDIT: voting has ended!

Edit: Mel Caylo with Top Cow provides some FAQs regarding voting:

Q: Can I vote more than once?
A: Yes, but not more than once per day. Even if you go to another site, the system will recognize your IP address and prevent you from voting until it resets for the next day.

Q: How do I know if my vote went through?
A: If you see a message that says, “Thanks for voting,” you’re golden!

Q: When does voting end?
A: September 8th, so vote every day!

Q: How can I keep track of who’s winning?
A: Every Monday until Sept. 8th, check out the official Pilot Season site at myspace.com/pilotseason for an updated blog.