March
12 Comics Crazy

Here's the news:

Marvel's "The Punisher," starring Tom Jane, John Travolta and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, will get its first screening March 23 at ShoWest in Las Vegas, the same day that Marvel Studios chief Avi Arad receives the first Robert Selig Showmanship Award for achievement in filmmaking.

Also at ShoWest will be Jennifer Garner, who says she is in training to shoot "Elektra" in May on her hiatus from "Alias." Arad says the movie is based on the classic Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz Elektra: Assassin comics from the 1980s.

Platinum Studios is developing Myatt Murphy's comic "Two Over Ten" into a feature.

The top selling comics for February from Diamond Comics distributors are:

1. New X-Men #153 (Marvel)
2. Ultimate Fantastic Four #3 (Marvel)
3. 1602 #7 (Marvel)
4. Superman/Batman #6 (DC)
5. Ultimate X-Men #42 (Marvel)
6. Ultimate Spider-Man #53 (Marvel)
7. Secret War #1 (Marvel)
8. Uncanny X-Men #439 (Marvel)
9. Uncanny X-Men #440
10. Batman #624 (DC)

DC Comics announced it has signed artists Jerry Ordway and Ethan Van Sciver to two-year exclusive deals. Writer/artist John Byrne announced on his message board that he will write and draw a new Doom Patrol series for the publisher starting in June.

Harvey Pekar of "American Splendor" fame has signed a deal to produce three original graphic novels for Ballantine Books.

And Tokyopop hired former Sony VP Mark Lebowitz as its new CFO.