All This, And Maggie Gyllenhaal Too

The new trailer for The Dark Knight is up, and it looks great. Looks like Bruce has a strong new love interest, too. Can't wait, can't wait!!

Toy OTD: DC Direct Wonder Woman Mini-Bust

Generally, I prefer the original permed, skirted Wonder Woman, but I think this is a really great sculpt (by DC regular Tim Bruckner) of the modern version. More realistic approaches are fraught with pitfalls, but there's a strong execution here. Nice, subtle paint work, especially on the face! Many busts don't include the arms - but not only do we get them, we're treated to a cool pose, as if she's preparing to block some gunfire. Excellent!

This item's been out for a while, but it's not hard to find - you can still get one at zeuscomics.com for $35.99 + shipping.

Metal Men Movie? Maybe

ANIMATION MAGAZINE.NET: WB Drawn to DC’s Metal Men
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
By: Ryan Ball

In the latest case of Tinsel Town pilfering the comic racks for tentpole material, Warner Bros. Pictures has picked up film rights to the 1962 DC Comics property Metal Men. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eric Champnella (Mr. 3000) is writing the screenplay for producer Lauren Shuler Donner, who produced all three X-Men movies and is also working on the Wolverine and Magneto spin-off flicks.

The concept of Metal Men lends itself to liberal use of CG animation. Written by Robert Kanigher, penciled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito, the comics chronicle the adventures of six intelligent robots that possess unique powers dictated by the different types of metal they’re made from. Forged in a laboratory by scientist William Magnus, the team of shape-shifting heroes is led by Gold and also includes the strong Iron, the slow-witted but loyal Lead, the self-doubting and insecure Tin and the hot-headed Mercury. Rounding out the crew is Platinum, who wants to be a real woman and harbors romantic feelings for Dr. Magnus.

Respected comic-book scribe Geoff Johns is contributing to the development efforts and will serve as an exec producer on the film. Dan Lin and Elishia Holmes are spearheading the project for Warner Bros. and Gregory Noveck is overseeing for DC Comics.

While costumed crime fighters Spider-Man, Superman and Batman have been sure-fire box-office draws over the years, films based on more marginalized superheroes have been a crap shoot. Twentieth Century Fox hit a winner with the X-Men trilogy and made a surprise hit out of Fantastic Four, but the deeper studios dig into the comic bin the harder they have to work to sell it to the public. Lions Gate’s take on Marvel’s The Punisher didn’t set the box office on fire and fellow moderate successes Constantine (DC Vertigo) from Warner Bros. and Ghost Rider (Marvel) from Columbia Pictures relied heavily on the star power of Keanu Reeves and Nicholas Cage, respectively. In the next couple of years we’ll see how moviegoers take to the likes of Nick Fury, Dr. Strange and Ant Man and a host of other comic heroes making their way to the big screen.

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Wow. After "The Shadow" and "The Phantom" disappointments, it's interesting that a comic even more obscure is being considered. I'm a pretty hard-core comic nerd, and I barely read that title. You should get free admission if you actually know the film's based on a comic!

Thanks to I Watch Stuff! for the link and the image.

2004 Article: One Of The Worst Business Deals Ever

SEQUART.COM: Superman's Copyright: The Never-Ending Battle?
Sequential Culture #30 by Julian Darius
10 Aug 2004 at 12:00 EST (updated 11 Mar 2005 at 20:08 EST)

Siegel, Shuster, and their heirs have been trying periodically to regain the rights to Superman since 1947.

With the current focus on the rights to Superman, it is worth taking a moment to discuss the history of the Superman copyright. Just as Superman the character led the way for modern comic book hero, Superman's copyright has been long in dispute and has led the way for other such legal battles. In point of fact, Siegel, Shuster, and their heirs have been trying periodically to regain the rights to Superman since 1947.

Siegel and Shuster

In 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster signed away all rights to Superman, which they had created together as teenagers, to National Periodicals (later DC) for a purported $130. Because Siegel and Shuster had created the character independently, their work did not qualify as work-for-hire; rather, they sold the copyright outright. The character quickly became wildly successful, receiving a radio drama and movie serial. In 1947, with the duo receiving less work from DC, Siegel and Shuster sued the company to regain the rights to their most famous creation.

The judge sided with DC, but he strangely assigned the rights to Superboy, then only recently introduced in More Fun Comics, to Siegel and Shuster -- on the grounds that Superboy was a separate character. The duo reportedly sold Superboy back to DC for $100,000, but DC removed the creators' credits from their characters. Time passed, and in 1966 Siegel again tried to regain the rights to Superman -- and again failed. Again time passed, and both Siegel and Shuster reportedly became destitute.

It all started to change in 1975, when Siegel issued a press release vehemently attacking DC and Jack Liebowitz, the DC employee to whom the two teenagers brought their Superman, and outlining the pair's mistreatment at their hands. DC was gearing up for the much-celebrated 1978 Superman movie and certainly didn't want this kind of scandal surrounding the character. Legendary comics artist Neal Adams led a campaign to help Siegel and Shuster, and DC not only restored the creators' credits for Superman but put the two on a pension.

It was the attention given at this time to the plight of Siegel and Shuster that created the mythic status of their story in the then-fledgling American comics community. The story was no longer the corporate version, but one in which two teenagers created one of the most powerful fictional icons in the world. Except that they sold the rights to the evil corporation in order to see publication. Cue montage of years of destitution and depression. This myth, inscribed deeply in the American comics community (not to mention being an example in every law school class on copyright law), influenced Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay. It is equally seen in Rich Veitch's neglected classic The Maximortal.
Joe Shuster died in 1992. Jerry Siegel died in 1996.

Joe Shuster died in 1992. Jerry Siegel died in 1996. For what it's worth, both received tributes in DC publications at the time.

Revoking the Copyright, Part One

In 1998, Joanne Siegel (Jerome's widow) and Laura Siegel Larson (his daughter) filed the papers necessary to terminate Jerome's assignment of copyright to DC. As copyright law had extended the length of copyrights, it had also provided a means for creators to terminate their transfer of copyright -- a means of not forcing people who signed under state-of-the-law X to abide by state-of-the-law Y. Thus, 56 years after the transfer of copyright, creators have a five-year window of time to file for that transfer's termination. This allows the present copyright holders all they could have received under the old law, while still allowing the original holders to prevent their transferred copyright from being extended without compensation. The Siegels' revocation, were it to be legally upheld, would have taken effect sometime in 1999 -- and would have applied to 50% of the rights to the character.

The story took on a life of its own as people began sorting out the complex issues involved. It soon became clear that Shuster had left no children and had no heirs to file similar papers, leaving DC indisputably with Shuster's half. DC had also trademarked many aspects of Superman's appearance, and these would not transfer back with the copyright.

The story also lead to widespread speculation, particularly on the internet. Many pondered the result of splitting the rights 50 / 50: would that leave both co-owners to freely produce Superman material, or would both have to agree on any Superman material? Some wondered whether the Siegels would set up a rival company to produce alternate stories starring Superman. DC's revisions to Superman over the years led some to wonder whether the Siegels should really have a hand in guiding the present Superman. Most felt, ultimately, that the move was really a negotiating tactic with AOL / Time-Warner, owner of DC Comics, in a bid for more money. Indeed, negotiations between the Siegels and AOL / Time-Warner have reportedly been ongoing ever since.
It was a frenzy: some websites actually maintained lists of characters, showing their creation date, window to file, and who might be eligible to file.

The Siegels got the ball rolling. For a time, there was a great deal of press coverage of creators' rights being rescinded. The legal windows to rescind transfer of copyright for Golden Age characters were opening and closing -- with each one, it seemed, getting coverage. It was a frenzy: some websites actually maintained lists of characters, showing their creation date, window to file, and who might be eligible to file. Legal papers were filed for several such characters, each time receiving press coverage. But it all died down, more in a whimper than with a bang.

Revoking the Copyright, Part Two

What we are now experiencing, in terms of comics press suddenly covering the Superman copyright dispute, comes equally out of the blue. Among others, Heidi Macdonald's "The Beat" -- a blog on comiccon.com -- was instrumental in promoting the story this time around.

With Shuster's half also gone, DC would be left with not 50% but exactly 0%.

The reason for this new flurry of press coverage is not news in that case but rather a couple other filings. In November 2002, the Siegels filed separate paperwork to terminate the transfer of Superboy's copyright, effective November 2004. Although Shuster left no children, he nonetheless left an executor: Mark Peary, son of Shuster's sister, who has filed paperwork to terminate the assignment of Shuster's portion of Superman's copyright, effective October 2013. The date corresponds to another window, caused by another legal extension of the duration of copyright, in which creators may revoke copyright transfers -- this one beginning after 75 years. With Shuster's half also gone, DC would be left with not 50% but exactly 0%.

It doesn't help that this time, not unlike the late 1970s, there's a high-profile Superman movie in the works that no one wants to see scuttled.

This time around, the separate issue of Superboy's copyright, stemming from its legal separation in 1947 from Superman's copyright, has led to the most speculation. Many have pointed out that Smallville, the successful TV show on the WB network, is based more on Superboy than Superman. DC's shifting continuity, as always, complicates matters: the present Superboy isn't Superman as a boy at all, but rather a new character whose relationship to the old could be disputed.

If DC were to lose completely the copyright to Superman, as it may well in 2013, the company would lose all aspects created by Siegel and Schuster but not trademarked aspects or derivative characters created later -- with Superboy being a special and separate case. Clark Kent and Lois Lane may well disappear from the DC Universe, but DC might retain Superman and / or Metropolis in some version.
This time around, Superboy's copyright has led to the most speculation.

This time around, the separate issue of Superboy's copyright, stemming from its legal separation in 1947 from Superman's copyright, has led to the most speculation. Many have pointed out that Smallville, the successful TV show on the WB network, is based more on Superboy than Superman. DC's shifting continuity, as always, complicates matters: the present Superboy isn't Superman as a boy at all, but rather a new character whose relationship to the old could be disputed.

If DC were to lose completely the copyright to Superman, as it may well in 2013, the company would lose all aspects created by Siegel and Schuster but not trademarked aspects or derivative characters created later -- with Superboy being a special and separate case. Clark Kent and Lois Lane may well disappear from the DC Universe, but DC might retain Superman and / or Metropolis in some version.

Captain Marvel Still 'Alive', Developing Movie Anyway

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Team Captain: August writing NL's 'Shazam!'
By Borys Kit - March 9, 2007

John August has been hired to pen "Shazam!" New Line Cinema's adaptation of a DC Comics series featuring Captain Marvel. Peter Segal is attached to direct and also is producing with Michael Ewing.

The comic book series focuses on Billy Batson, a teenager who becomes the superhero known as Captain Marvel when he utters the magic word "Shazam!" The name is an acronym for six gods and heroes of the ancient world as well as their attributes: the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Aries, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury.

Writers on the long-gestating project include William Goldman and Bryan Goluboff.

Segal approached August because of the scribe's track record of combining big spectacle with characterization in such movies as "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Big Fish." August, who recently started reading the trade paperbacks that compiled the "Shazam!" series, was intrigued.

"It's a unique opportunity to do a comic book movie where the character in it actually read comic books," said August, who has started writing the script. "What's terrific about the character is that he looks like this superstudly superhero but is really a 13-year-old boy. And to approach everything that is great about a superhero movie from a 13-year-old boy's perspective was a unique way in."

August sat down with noted DC Comics writer Geoff Johns for "idiot checking," making sure the filmmakers' approach to the character was consistent with what fans love about him. "I think we're going to be able to be really faithful to the mythology and yet make it completely transparent for people who have no idea who the character is," August said.

Chris Godsick and Michael Uslan ("Constantine") are executive producing.

Gregory Noveck is overseeing for DC Comics. Mark Kaufman and Daryl Freimark are overseeing for New Line.

August, who wrote and directed the Sundance Film Festival favorite "The Nines," is repped by UTA and attorney Ken Richman.

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Thanks to I Watch Stuff! for the tip.

Man! The studios are falling all over each other to get their superhero properites into development. I guess the eye is still on "Spider-Man" box-office and not the "Superman Returns" budget. Ultimately, I suppose it comes down to the fact that the "Spider-Man" films were pretty expensive too, and that "Ghost Rider" is doing well.

A friend of mine reminded me that the success of the TV show "Heroes" might be a big part of the current comic movie craze. That makes total sense to me! I'd forgotten all about that.

Dutch Nerd Wants Police To Think He's The Joker

YAHOO! NEWS: Batman's nemesis The Joker gets his Dutch I.D.
Fri Jan 26, 10:03 AM ET

AMSTERDAM, Jan 25 (Reuters Life!) - Is The Joker, one of Batman's fiercest enemies, a Dutch citizen?

A 35-year-old man from the western Dutch town of Hellevoetsluis convinced local authorities to issue him an identity card with a picture that shows him as The Joker, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Thursday.

The man also managed to apply for a driver's license picturing him with the cartoon character's trademark white skin and dark hat.

ANP said the man was working in the security sector and had wanted to show that current rules for identity papers were insufficient.

The Joker, played by Jack Nicholson in the movie version of Batman, is probably the best known enemy of the fictional superhero.

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That's pretty incredible, but I think the guy who legally changed his name to "Optimus Prime" still has this fellow beat!

Dial 'B' For Blog

If you're a fan of silver age DC comics, this blog is for you! Seriously. JUST for you.

This is such a labor of love - great scans of the comics themselves, insanely nerdy articles, plus beautiful photoshop tweaking of classic covers! It's scary how many of these things I recognize.

You may have seen some of this postmodern ribbing elsewhere, but it's so lavishly mounted, even the old favorites (the infamous Batman 'boner' story) are worth a re-visit.

Comics For Teen Girls Assumed To Be New Idea

NY TIMES: For Graphic Novels, a New Frontier: Teenage Girls
By GEORGE GENE GUSTINES
Published: November 25, 2006

“It’s time we got teenage girls reading comics,” said Karen Berger, a senior vice president at DC Comics. And DC, the comics powerhouse best known as home to Superman and Batman, has a program to make that happen.

In May, DC plans to introduce Minx, a line of graphic novels aimed at young adult female readers, starting with six titles in 2007, each retailing for less than $10. The stories will be far removed from the superheroes who more typically appeal to young males. They include “Clubbing,” about a London party girl who solves a mystery; “Re-Gifters,” about a Korean-American teenager in California who enjoys martial arts; and “Good as Lily,” about a young woman who meets three versions of herself at different ages.

Teenage girls, Ms. Berger said, are smart and sophisticated and “about more than going out with the cute guy. This line of books gives them something to read that honors that intelligence and assertiveness and that individuality.”

As a whole, the line is positioned as an alternative for teenage girls who have, especially in bookstores, become increasing smitten with the Japanese comics known as manga. In 2004, DC started CMX, a manga imprint, to capture part of that audience. The marketing then was similar to that used for DC’s other titles.

With Minx, though, DC has taken what, for it, is the unusual step of seeking outside help. It has joined with Alloy Marketing + Media to promote Minx. All told, DC, a unit of Time Warner, will spend $125,000 next year to push the line.

“In terms of consumer marketing, it’s got to be the largest thing we’ve done in at least three decades,” said Paul Levitz, the president and publisher of DC Comics. “It’s not large by the scale of consumer marketing and advertising as it’s done in America, but it’s a large-scale commitment, I think, for a publishing company in general.”

Alloy Entertainment, a division of the marketing company, has helped to make hits of books like “Gossip Girls” and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” Alloy was also the so-called book packager behind “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life,” a first novel by a 19-year-old Harvard sophomore named Kaavya Viswanathan that was pulled from stores earlier this year when it was learned that numerous passages had been copied from novels by other writers.

Still, Alloy is offering DC access to a large audience of teenage girls, through Web sites and the Delia’s shopping catalog, which has a mailing list of nearly five million, according to Samantha Skey, Alloy’s senior vice president for strategic marketing. Ms. Skey said Minx would be the first graphic novel publisher to be included in the catalog.

Along with other initiatives, Alloy plans to create online networks about the novels that will let subscribers write reviews, see previews and sketches or discuss the stories.

DC cast a wide net in seeking those stories. “To us it doesn’t matter if the person has written comics before or is known to the comic book market,” Ms. Berger said. “We want writers who can really write to the demographic and to really bring something new to the table.”

The right creative team is important. “When you had mostly boys and men making comics, you had comics made mainly for boys and men,” said Johanna Draper Carlson, the editor of comicsworthreading.com, a Web site for comic book news and reviews. “Then you end up with teen-girl superheroes who are drawn like Victoria’s Secret models.”

“I don’t think only women can write for women,” Ms. Carlson added, “but I think it helps provide an alternative perspective and a more true-to-life experience.” Ms. Carlson, who often champions female-friendly comics on her site, is taking a wait-and-see attitude to the Minx line.

The first Minx graphic novel will be “The P.L.A.I.N. Janes,” written by Cecil Castellucci and illustrated by Jim Rugg. It tells the story of Jane, a transfer student in a suburban high school who starts a campaign, “People Loving Art in Neighborhoods.” It’s a call to appreciate the everyday world that comes to involve everything from protesting the construction of a new mall to encouraging pet adoptions from animal shelters.

Jane’s classmates and fellow believers are Jane, who is interested in theater; Jayne, an academic whiz; and Polly Jane, a jock. Each is decidedly not part of the in-crowd. The reason for Jane’s transfer is serious: her family fled to suburbia after Jane survived a terrorist attack that blew up a cafe in fictional Metro City.

The experience of survival is a personal one for Ms. Castellucci, 37, whose young-adult novels include “Boy Proof” and “The Queen of Cool.” In 1979, when she was 9, Ms. Castellucci witnessed a bombing by the Irish Republican Army in Brussels. In 1986, she was in Paris during a rash of bombings. Those incidents, and the events of Sept. 11, played a role in shaping the story.

“It seemed like this was a good opportunity to explore those fearful feelings that I had growing up,” she said in a telephone interview from her home in Los Angeles. “They’ve always been a part of my makeup and fears.” Feeling scared, she said: is an emotion everyone understands. “You can’t help it if you’re a part of this world.”

Ms. Castellucci was recruited by Shelly Bond, a Minx editor. It was an easy sell. “I love comic books,” Ms. Castellucci said, listing several series she enjoys, including “Fables” and “American Virgin,” on the DC imprint Vertigo, and a particular creator (“Brian K. Vaughan. I love everything he does”).

But reading comics is different from creating one, particularly a 146-page graphic novel. “I had to learn how to write a story all over again,” she said. “I did have a week or two when I thought I don’t know what I’m doing.” She said that the graphic novel was “kind of like a movie or a storyboard, but it’s not. There’s so much you can do with the images and the pacing.” She credited Mr. Rugg, the artist of “The P.L.A.I.N. Janes,” as a prime source for advice.

Mr. Rugg, who is based outside Pittsburgh, said he appreciated the goal of Minx. “I liked their target demographic,” he said. “I like the idea of doing comics for an atypical reader.” In addition to creating the drawings, Mr. Rugg also gray-scaled them, giving the black-and-white comic book a sense of color. He finished his work last month.

One of Mr. Rugg’s previous comics was “Street Angel,” about a homeless teenage girl who fights crime, which he created with the writer Brian Maruca. Mr. Rugg, 29, called that comic, published by Slave Labor Graphics, his response to the typical depiction of women in mainstream comics, most particularly their impossibly proportioned bodies.

“It’s the same for men,” he acknowledged. “But I don’t find that as offensive.”

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I know Marvel's been aiming at this market for a while (at least with illustrated prose novels, I'm not sure about comic- comics) so I'm assuming DC's been trying right along with them. Is this like the "female Sesame Street muppet" stories, where they're just enough of a promotional tool to conveniently overlook preceding examples?