Jenny Finn: Doom

Creators: Mike Mignola and Troy Nixey, writers; Troy Nixey, artist

Atomeka, 54 pages, b&w $6.99 

"Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola takes a break from pushing pamcakes to give us this little Victorian sci-fier. "Jenny Finn" is a two-part horror tale about a mysterious little girl and a recent scourge of mutants crowding the streets of London.

Whores, serial killers and seafood -- this is the holy trinity behind "Jenny Finn." The story starts by following lovable Joe, a country boy straight off the farm who finds himself lost in the seedy underside of the big city. The kind-hearted lunkhead takes it upon himself to save the little girl from the horrors of urban living. Little does he realize that Jenny, a Mrs. Pauls version of Emily the Strange, is not the one in need of saving. The rest of the salty tale deals with revenge, murder, rape and violence. Fun, fun, fun.

The art of "Jenny" is really first class. Nixey does a great job in capturing the tragic, macabre mutants that haunt the city, as well as create an overall creepiness and dark tone for the tale.

Grade: B+

Beauty job

Still No. 1

"Batrman Begins" was No. 1 at the weekend domestic b.o. again, with a $26.8 million three-day gross, bringing the total domestic cume to $121.7 million. The pic also had some legs in foreign markets, taking in $26.7 million on 8,350 playdates in 85 territories. "Batman" beat out newcomer "Bewitched" but it's reign will end with the Spielberg-Cruise pic "War of the Worlds" opening Wednesday to dominate the holiday weekend. And it's only 11 days until the release of "Fantastic Four" ...

Actor Paul Giamatti has signed on to voice the lead character in Sci Fi Channel's animated pilot based on Mike Mignola's comic "The Amazing Screw-On Head." The "Hellboy" creator published one issue of the comic, about a Civil War-era secret agent who can switch his head between bodies. Patton Oswalt, Molly Shannon and David Hyde Pierce also will provide voices; the cabler hopes to have a pilot finished by early 2006.

A legal ruling clears the way for a settlement in the 2002 lawsuit filed by comics retailer Brian Hibbs against Marvel regarding returnability terms. Both sides agreed to a settlement and the current ruling allows the settlement to gain court approval and be implemented.

Heroes Convention was held this past weekend in Charlotte, N.C., to reports of good crowds. Newsarama has a report on the Marvel panel, which had no great revelations but is full of info on who's working on what these days.

Ghost in the Machine

Decent Beginning

"Batman Begins" began well, starting off with a $15 million take its first day last Wednesday before going on to rake in $48.7 million over the weekend for a five-day opening domestic total of $72.9 million. The numbers are strong, but not dazzlingly so — a phenomenon repeated in overseas b.o. reports — and the pic is not the summer b.o. savior that some had hoped it would be. Reviews were unusually strong, however, so the second-week dropoff will be the number to watch to see if Batman has legs.

In other "Batman" news, the pic's TV rights were picked up by FX Networks in a $30 million deal that also includes "Constantine" and "Troy." Pic will start airing on the cabler in late 2007.

Mark Ricketts' Image Comics graphic novel, "Dioramas," has been picked up for feature development by Adrian Loudermilk's Venture Management.

Fox and Marvel have filed a lawsuit against Sony and Revolution, seeking an injunction against further work on the Tim Allen superhero pic "Zoom." Complaint alleges "Zoom's" use of teenage mutant heroes, an underground training complex and sinister government program infringes on the "X-Men" copyright. Key to the case is the release date. "Zoom," starring Tim Allen, was originally skedded for an August 2006 release but was moved to May 12 after Fox and Marvel had set a Memorial Day release for "X-Men 3." "Zoom," which has yet to start production, is based on the graphic novel "Zoom's Academy for the Super Gifted" by Jason Lethcoe. The complaint says that while the graphic novel differs from the "X-Men" concept, the script has become a near copy of Marvel's mutants.

Green Lantern #1 topped the direct market sales charts for the month of May, selling an estimated 168,000 copies, according to ICV2.com. That put DC ahead of Marvel both in terms of units sold and dollar share for the first time in a very, very long time. DC had 12 of the top 25 titles, fueled by strong sales on Green Lantern: Rebirth and the Infinite Crisis miniseries The Omac Project, Villains United, Rann-Thanagar War and Day of Vengeance. Marvel had the rest of the top 25 with its usual suspects, Astonishing X-Men and the various Ultimate comics. Walking Dead Vol. 3  from Image Comics was the top-selling graphic novel in the direct market for May. ICV2.com's analysis of the numbers shows graphic novels dollars were up 36%, while periodical comics were down 4% for a 1% increase overall from the same month last year. Graphic novel sales in comics shops have been growing for the past five months, while periodical sales in the same stretch have been even or down.

Sony Online Entertainment and Warner Bros. Online Entertainment signed a deal that includes the development of an massive multiplayer online videogame based on the DC Universe. Deal also has SOE aquiring "The Matrix Online" game.

Entertainment Weekly's 2005 Must List was chock full of comicbook-related items, leading off with Brandon Routh and Kate Beckinsale from next summer's "Superman Returns." Jessica Alba of "Fantastic Four" was right behind them on the list, with "Invincible" and "Walking Dead" comics scribe Robert Kirkman and AiT-PlanetLar publisher Larry Young also making the list.

And Dark Horse is presenting an online comic adapting "War of the Worlds." Not the Spielberg-Cruise version coming soon to a theater near you, but the original H.G. Wells novel that started it all.

It "Begins"

"Batman Begins" hit screens just after midnight last night and will be the movie to watch this weekend. Reviews from newspapers far and near have been mostly positive, with many critics pleasantly surprised at how good the picture is. The pic opens today on 3,718 screens in the U.S. and will expand to 3,858 screens on Friday. The pic also is opening in 71 international territories the next three days and will appear on about 8,000 screens worldwide. Expectations are high given the year's slumping b.o. The record opening for a Batman film came 10 years ago, when "Batman Forever" pulled in $52.8 million in its first three days.

CLASSIC DEAL: Tribune Media Services has pacted with Classic Media for Classic to manage its library of comicstrip characters, which includes Dick Tracy, Brenda Starr, Gasoline Alley and Broom Hilda.

THEIR KIND OF TOWN: Frank Miler and Jim Lee will be guests of honor at Wizard World Chicago, which will be held Aug. 5-7 in the Windy City. Miller and Lee are collaborating on DC's upcoming All Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder. Move also should put to rest the long-rumored Miller-Wizard feud, which stems from Miller's criticism of the magazine in a keynote speech several years ago and a subsequent lack of coverage of Miller's work since, up to and including the "Sin City" movie. The most recent Wizard World, held in Philadelphia a few weeks back, drew a record crowd of 27,000 attendees, up from 25,500 the year before. Rumors have been circulating that Wizard plans to bring a show to Atlanta as it continues to expand its convention business.

GORE UPDATE: The Chris Gore rant on Brett Ratner and "X-Men 3" mentioned a few days back is now available as a video clip at the G4 site. Check it out here.

Girls #1

Creators: Jonathan Luna, plot, art, color, letters; Joshua Luna, plot, script, layouts.

Image Comics, 22 pages, color, $2.95

So?: Hot off the successful "Ultra" series, the Luna brothers continue to make their mark on the industry with "Girls." Featuring Playboy-esque covers and a ton of unanswered questions, the first issue of "Girls" establishes the brothers Luna as old hands in the comic book biz.

This time around, the Luna brothers paint a picture of anger and frustration with Ethan, a young supermarket clerk whose knowledge of the inner workings of the female mind is limited at best. Small town living, dating and drinking leads the way to a complete meltdown in Pennystown's only bar, where young Ethan blames the female population for his troubled love life. After a small run-in with the law, the supernatural qualities of the comic start to show with events that lead the reader to believe that there is more to Ethan than meets the eye. And just when things can't get any weirder (or sadder), our hero discovers a lovely lass in the middle to the road, sans clothing. Who is she, what is her story, and why is she nekkid are all questions left to be answered in the upcoming issues.

The first issue of "Girls" does its job in creating a hook that has you eagerly anticipating the next issue. Compared to "Ultra,""Girls" features similar art, raunchy dark humor and deep character development we've come to expect from Jonathan and Joshua. The major difference is in the tone. While "Ultra" could be compared to "Sex and the City," "Girls" tends to lean towards "X-Files" meets "James at 15."

All in all, a great beginning.

Grade: A-

Harvey Winners

The winners of the 18th annual Harvey Awards were announced Saturday at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York. The awards were part of the MoCCA Art Festival, held this weekend. The winners are:

Best New Talent: Andy Runton, “Owly,” Top Shelf

Best New Series: “Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist,” Dark Horse Comics

Best Letterer: Todd Klein, “Wonder Woman,” DC Comics

Best Writer: Daniel Clowes, “Eightball,” Fantagraphics

Best Artist: Darwyn Cooke, “DC: The New Frontier,” DC Comics

Best Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, “Bone,” Cartoon Books

Best Cover Artist: James Jean, “Fables,” DC/Vertigo

Best Single Issue or Story: Eightball #23, Fantagraphics

Best Domestic Reprint Project: “The Complete Peanuts 1950-52,” Fantagraphics

Best Continuing, Limited Series: “DC: The New Frontier,” DC Comics

Best Inker: Charles Burns, “Black Hole,” Fantagraphics

Best Colorist: Dave Stewart, “DC: The New Frontier,” DC Comics

Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work: “Bone: One Volume Edition,” Cartoon Books

Special Award for Humor in Comics: Kyle Baker, “Plastic Man,” DC Comics

Best Anthology (TIE): “Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventure of the Escapist,” Dark Horse Comics, edited by Diana Schutz; “McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #13,” McSweeney’s Books, edited by Chris Ware

Best Graphic Album of Original Work: “Blacksad 2,” ibooks/Komikwerks, Juajono Guardino and Juan Diaz Canales

Best Syndicated Strip or Panel: “Mutts,” Patrick McDonald, King Features Syndicate

Special Award for Excellence in Presentation: “The Complete Peanuts 1950-52,” Fantagraphics

Best American Edition of Foreign Material: “Buddha,” Vertical Inc.

Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation: “Comic Book Artist,” Top Shelf, edited by Jon B. Cooke

The Big Picture

Busy week, lots going on, so let's get to the highlight reel:

WORTH THE WAIT: "Batman Begins" had its premiere Monday at the Grauman's Chinese and it was a major affair with a huge elevated red carpet and a small fleet of limos. The biggest stir was caused by co-star Katie Holmes' boyfriend, Tom Cruise, who hopped across the street to sign autographs for the onlookers. Our own Alex Romanelli was on hand to talk with co-writer David Goyer, who says die-hard fans will find lots of little Easter eggs and lines plucked directly from the comics. Comics pros were on hand as well, with Jim Lee posting he flew in for Italy for the affair and sat with "Batman" legend Neal Adams and artist Denys Cowan, who drew 1989's "Blind Justice" story that influenced the pic. The Los Angeles all-media screening was last night at the Mann Bruin and was packed. So quickly did the theater fill up, that the screening actually started on time. The verdict: This movie rocks. Casual and hard-core fans will get a major kick from this pic, which is extremely well put together in every way from script to score. This is in the same ballpark quality wise as the "Spider-Man" pics and "X2," so expect some major action at the box office starting Wednesday.

WOLVIE PRODUCES: Hugh Jackman and John Palermo's new production company, Seed Prods., has signed a first-look deal with Fox that will include the "Wolverine" spinoff movie being written by David Benioff. Company also will seek projects for Jackman's wife, actress and director Deborra-Lee Furness. Deal excludes musicals, an area in which the Tony-winning Jackman has a development deal with Disney. Jackman has some behind-the-camera participation on director-juggling "X-Men 3," on which Palermo is an exec producer. "It got to be a roller-coaster ride there, but I wasn't worried because the script is so strong," Jackman told Daily Variety. "Matthew (Vaughn) had his reasons but helped make the movie better before he left. Brett (Ratner) has come in with a lot of enthusiasm and full understanding of the franchise. It has been a real learning curve, as has been putting together the script on 'Wolverine.' That project is a good start for me as producer, because I have intimate knowledge of the character." 

KILLER CUTIES: "We3," the Eisner-nominated three-issue Vertigo series by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely about cybernetic assassin animals, has been picked up by New Line with Morrison in talks to write the feature film's script.

POST INSERT: A free Batman comicbook will be given away with copies of Monday's edition of The New York Post. The comic will reprint Batman #608, the first chapter of "Hush" by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams. The comic will have a redesigned cover and will be inserted in the Sports Extra and Late City Final Editions of The Post in the tri-state area.

FEMME HONORS: Friends of Lulu, which promotes female participation in the comics biz, has announced the noms for their Lulu Awards. The awards will be presented at the Manchester Hyatt Hotel in San Diego on July 14, the first day of Comic-Con Intl. The nominees are:

Women Cartoonist Hall of Fame:

• Donna Barr (A Fine Line Press)
• Nell Brinkley ("The Three Graces")
• Amanda Conner ("Vampirella," "JSA Classified")
• Phoebe Gloeckner ("The Diary of a Teenage Girl")
• Rumiko Takahashi ("Ranma 1/2," "Inu Yasha")
• Jill Thompson ("Scary Godmother," "Death")

Kim Yale Award for new or emerging talent deserving of wider recognition:

• Vera Brosgol ("Flight," "Hopeless Savages B-Sides")
• Stephanie Freese ("Ripped from the Headlines")
• Dorothy Gambrell ("Cat and Girl"; "The New Adventures of Death")
• Emily Horne ("A Softer World")
• Tintin Pantoja ("Sevenplains"; Girlamatic.com)

Women of Distinction Award for women in noncreator roles:

• Karen Berger (DC Comics)
• Vijaya Iyer (Cartoon Books)
• Heidi MacDonald (The Beat)
• Mimi Rosenheim (AiT/PlanetLar)
• Diana Schutz (Dark Horse)

Lulu of the Year

• Shaenon Garrity (Girlamatic.com, Modern Tales)
• Devin Grayson (DC Comics)
• Megan Kelso ("Scheherazade")
• TOKYOPOP (www.tokyopop.com)
• Flight Anthology (www.flightcomics.com)

ON THE MOVE: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is packing up and moving to New York City. The org had been based in Northampton, Mass., for the past ten years. The new offices will be at 271 Madison Ave. and they'll be open there on Tuesday.

MOUSE PACT: Slave Labor will create four comicbook series based on Disney characters, under a deal struck at Book Expo and reported on ICV2.com. The four books are: "The Haunted Mansion," "Wonderland," "Gargoyles" and "Tron." The comics will start appearing in the fall, with Slave Labor set to collect the books as graphic novels and sell both formats at Disney parks.

GORE GOOFS: Chris Gore of Film Threat (the magazine and the website) spoofed new "X-Men 3" director Brett Ratner last night on cabler G4 TV's geek-tech news chat show "Attack of the Show." In addition to Gore ranting from a wheelchair, a la Professor X, an actor imitating the helmer's stubble and shades look repeated the quotes the helmer has made since getting the job. Gore responded with fanboy aplomb that would make Kevin Smith proud, pleading for Marvel and Fox to slow down, take their time and make sure they get the classic Dark Phoenix story right. The clip doesn't appear to be on the show's site, but it's a good laugh if you can still catch it.

NY Comic-Con Announced

New York is finally getting a big comics show again, with the announcement of the New York Comic-Con for Feb. 24-26, at the Jacob K. Javits Center.

The confab will be trade only its first day, catering to to comicbook retailers, booksellers, mass merchandisers, toy stores, libraries, media and rights and licensing pros, before opening to the public for two more days. The comics biz has been without a trade-only event or a major show in the industry’s traditional hometown for years and the con is expected to attract considerable media attention.

The show is being mounted by Reed Exhibitions, which runs more than 400 trade shows a year including the just-concluded Book Expo America, and is a sister company to Reed Business Information, which owns Daily Variety, Publisher's Weekly, Library Journal and Playthings.

The show will be co-sponsored by those RBI publications as well as by Diamond Comics Distributors and comics retailer news site ICV2.com. Marvel, DC Comics and anime/manga distrib ADV have commited to exhibit at the show.

Par's "Watch" is over

Paramount has, like Universal before it, passed on the "Watchmen" adaptation. Producers Gary Gordon and Lloyd Levin were shopping the pic, based on the DC Comics classic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, to other studios. Paul Greengrass is still attached to direct. Par put the pic and its $100 million budget under intense scrutiny after Brad Grey and Gail Berman took on exec posts at the studio.

Ratner's in; Philly fill-in

Brett Ratner will take over the helming duties on "X-Men 3," which remains on schedule to shoot in August with a May 2006 release date set. The original returning stars are all signed, with Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut and Maggie Grace as Kitty Pryde also signed and confirmed. The wild card at this point is the script by Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, which Marvel and Fox execs say is at least as strong as the scripts for the first two pics in the franchise. This move continues the rivalry between the "X-Men" and "Superman" productions, which will go head to head next summer in perhaps the ultimate Marvel-DC showdown. Ratner had been in line to direct the first "X-Men" but the job went to Bryan Singer. Ratner then developed a "Superman" project at WB, going on and off the project more than once, before Singer jumped ship from Fox to WB to helm "Superman Returns." That opened up the director's slot on "X3" for first Matthew Vaughn and now Ratner.

The Marvel-DC rivalry was in full force at this past weekend's Wizard World: Philadelphia. The biggest surprise was DC's signing of Adam and Andy Kubert to a three-year exclusive deal. The Kuberts had been among Marvel's most high-profile artists. Andy drew "1602" and "Origin," while Adam kepy busy with "Ultimate X-Men" and "Ultimate Fantastic Four." Among the interesting tidbits to come out of the show:

• Peter David's "Fallen Angel" series will move from DC to IDW, with a debut tentatively set for December.
• As part of "Infinite Crisis," all DC's March books will all skip ahead in a story called "One Year Later ..." that will make some major, instant changes in the DCU. DC also announced a line of thick, black-and-white reprints called "Showcase Presents" with books planned for Superman, Jonah Hex, Green Lantern and JLA. And Crisis on Infinite Earths Absolute Edition is planned for the fall.

Rocking the Universe

Vaughn Voyage

There's changes afoot in mutant movie land, as Matthew Vaughn has exited as director of "X-Men 3." Fox released a statement that Vaughn was leaving for personal reasons and a desire to not have to relocate his family to the States. Marvel and Fox say the film will remain on schedule to begin shooting in Vancouver in August with a Memorial Day 2006 release date. AICN got Marvel chief Avi Arad on the phone and say announcements on the casting of Angel and a new director are forthcoming, with the new helmer being someone who had previously circled the project. That last part has two very hopeful words on the lips of fans everywhere: Joss Whedon. Whedon's just finished "Serenity," due to be released Sept. 30 and is gearing up to write and direct "Wonder Woman" for DC/WB. Whether there's time in there for him to tackle "X3" and make it his own pic — and whether he'd even be interested in the project — remains to be seen.