March
26 No, We're Not Dead

Let’s start off with a quick apology for failing to update the blog every day this week. We had a little hangover from last weekend’s Wizard World Los Angeles and a lot of other deadlines to meet. Now, onward:

It looks like L.A. finally has a big comic con of its own. The final attendance for the inaugural Wizard World L.A. was 19,500. Considering they were expecting 7,500, that’s an amazing success. Wizard head honcho Gareb Shamus called this week and says the warm reception the con received makes it feel like it’s been around for ages. Next year’s show, set for March 18-20, will have triple the floor space and will probably attract even more people. Expect this show to be around for a long time.

A quick hello and thank you to a few of the many people the Bags and Boards team chatted with at the show, including Ford Gilmore, DC editorial chief Dan Didio, the Hurricane Comics crew, writer Joe Casey, artist Josh Middleton, Howard Chaykin, Mike Wellman, and Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada.

Word of this blog seems to be growing. The proof can be found on the cover of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan's Demo #5, where an excerpt from our review of the first issue is bannered across the top of the cover. Ait/PlanetLar's Larry Young is doing his part to spread the word about us; feel free to let your comics-reading Hollywood pals know we’re here.

Among the announcements that came out of Wizard World was word from Marvel that it’s bringing X-Force back as a six-issue series to be written by the series’ original creative team of Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld. It also revealed plans for an event series called Identity Disc, a title that’s very close to DC’s current Identity Crisis event. The publisher also announced it is delaying the second series of The Ultimates to ensure that it ships on schedule this time around. It also is ending Peter David’s Captain Marvel series with issue #25 and hinted that David may write a project with the Hulk, a character he wrote for more than 10 years. Brian Michael Bendis will be taking over Avengers, promising to destroy the team once and for all before relaunching it as two separate books. And lastly in Marvel news, the publisher has signed a deal with magazine distributor Source Interlink to represent its comics in the bookstore market.

ShoWest was abuzz with news on the movie front. Spider-Man 2 will be released two days earlier than originally planned, on June 30. Sony also confirmed plans to lens a second web-slinger sequel, skedding the release of Spider-Man 3 for May 4, 2007. Attendees got their first look at the Marvel/Lions Gate film The Punisher. An "already planned" Punisher 2, Black Widow and Iron Fist projects were also given mention. Variety also profiled Marvel producer Avi Arad, who received an award at the Las Vegas exhibitor show.

In other movie news: Preview screenings of Hellboy, which will be on screens everywhere next Friday trying to score a big pre-summer hit, are continuing this weekend. Also, f/x and production company The Orphanage has signed on to produce an adaptation of Bill Sienkiewicz's graphic novel, Stray Toasters.

Site ICV2 reports last weekend’s box office champ, Dawn of the Dead, will be coming to comic book form next month in a 56-page, magazine size color comic from MIG.biz.

Tokyopop is apparently in talks to do manga based on "Star Trek," also according to ICV2. The long-running sci-fi series has a long and kind of mixed history in comics, but with no "Trek" comics currently being produced, this could be a good move for the franchise.

Trouble continues for CrossGen comics, which has put out some pretty good books lately but has had cashflow problems that have left some of its freelancers unpaid. One of the freelancers, artist Andy Smith, has now filed a lawsuit against the company. A full recap of the situation is on Broken Frontiers.

DC’s popular Superman storyline, "Godfall," by Joe Kelly, Michael Turner and Talent Caldwell, continues to be hot. Action Comics #813, Adventures of Superman #626 and Superman #203 are all sold out. Look for quick reprints as the buzz on Superman grows with Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee, among others, preparing to take over the various books in the line.

And with the success of Wizard World, it’s no surprise that more big cons would be trying to open for business. The most recent is collectibles retailer Dynamic Forces, which is planning a Fanfest modeled more on events popular with country music and Nascar fans, for April 24 in Runnemede, N.J.

Lastly, thanks to Travis Smith, editor of Variety.com, who is moving on to greener pastures. This blog wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him. Thanks, Travis.