A film version of Ted Naifeh's "Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things" is in the works with Fox 2000 and New Regency, with Graham Tallman set to write the script. Comic, published by Oni Press, tells the tale of a girl who finds a creepy world of ghouls and goblins in her uncle's house. Tallman made the film "Lollipops," which was shown at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival and is a recent grad of the AFI.

VILLAINS LET LOOSE: Actress Kirsten Dunst revealed in an interview at Zap2it that Venom and Sandman will be the bad guys in "Spider-Man 3," which starts shooting in January. Story says she was shaky on who would play which character, but it looks like Topher Grace will play Venom and Thomas Hayden Church will be Sandman.

SPX DOINGS: Looks like plenty of fun was had last weekend at the Small Press Expo. The biggest announcement came from Carla Speed McNeil, who says her self-published series "Finder" will go web-only for serial publication after issue 38. The web stories will continue to be collected into trade paperback form. "Finder" is often cited as the best comic out there that no one buys or reads and in fact it won an Ignatz Award at the show. Here's the full list of Ignatz winners:

• Outstanding artist: David B., for "Epileptic" (Pantheon), Babel (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Outstanding anthology or collection: "Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man," by John Porcellino (La Mano)
• Outstanding graphic novel: "Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return," by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon)
• Outstanding story: "Dogs and Water," by Anders Nilsen (Drawn and Quarterly)
• Promising new talent: Andy Runton, for "Owly" (Top Shelf Productions)
• Outstanding series: "Finder," by Carla Speed McNeil (Lightspeed Press)
• Outstanding comic: "Or Else #1," by Kevin Huizenga (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Outstanding minicomic: "Phase 7," by Alec Longstreth (Self-published)
• Outstanding online comic: "The Perry Bible Fellowship," by Nicholas Gurewitch
• Outstanding debut: "Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed?" by Liz Prince (Top Shelf Productions)

Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder Lizards

Creators: Jim Ottaviani, writer; Big Time Attic, artists

GT Labs, 168 pages, sepia and white, $22.95

So? If there wasn’t a niche in the graphic novel world for a writer who can make real-life science into page-turning entertainment before Jim Ottaviani, then we can all be thankful he’s created it for himself. “Suspended in Language,” his previous book the life and discoveries of physicist Niels Bohr turned what could have been a dry topic into a fascinating read. And Ottaviani does it again with “Bone Sharps,” which tells the true story of the Bone War fought in the Old West as scientists Edward Cope and O.C. Marsh find and struggle for control of the continent’s rich vein of dinosaur fossils. Their rivalry and competition for scientific influence and fame makes for great drama, especially when it’s populated by such icons as P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill Cody, Alexander Graham Bell and President U.S. Grant. This also is a very sharp looking book, with a fantastic cover by “Xenozoic Tales” creator Mark Schultz and art by Big Time Attic, which includes Zander Cannon, Shad Petowsky and Kevin Cannon, that’s clear, compelling and beautiful. Grade: A

Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always

Creators: Clive Barker, story; Kris Oprisko, adaptation; Gabriel Hernandez, artist

IDW Publishing, 144 pages, color, $19.99

So? Barker’s best known for his horror work, but his children’s fantasy novel has proven quite popular in this age of Harry Potter. IDW’s adaptation is a handsome book, heavy with slick full color pages and beautiful spot embossing on the cover. The story inside is terrific fun for adult and youth alike. Hernandez beautifully draws in the tale in what looks like pencils and watercolors. It pops off the page. Oprisko’s adaptation is similarly effective and the story moves quickly and reads like a complete whole, with none of the cramming in of the ending that plagues a lot of adaptations (and plenty of original works, too). How successful this is at capturing every nuance of the book is up to others to decide. But based on this, comics fans who pick this up and are unfamiliar with the novel will be tempted to check out an aisle of the bookstore that stocks something other than graphic novels. Grade: A-

Full Moon Fever

Creators: Joe Casey, writer; Caleb Gerard and Damian Couceiro, artists

AiT-PlanetLar, 88 pages, black and white, $12.95

So? The idea here is the same as the movie “Alien” — but with werewolves instead of space critters. A lot of people will be sold right there, though they may find this little pop comic confection a bit light for their appetites when they get around to reading it. This is a fun book that fits in with what fans of Larry Young’s publishing outfit like and expect from his brand. Casey obviously has fun with a story that’s more straightforward than the density of the soon to be missed “The Intimates” or “Godland.” The art team tells the story well with polished art that evokes AiT-PlanetLar’s original release, “Astronauts in Trouble.” And for fans of the creative process, there’s a big chunk of Casey’s script reproduced in the back. Grade: B+

NYC Mech: Beta Love #1-2

Creators: Miles Gunter, Ivan Brandon, writers; Andy MacDonald, artist

Image Comics, 32 pages, color, $2.95 each

So? Imagine every living thing in New York City, from the birds and the rats to the people, are robots. How that ties into the story aside from making for some really cool art from MacDonald is not clear, but it really doesn’t matter. The story is very cool urban drama, about a bus driver named Quentin who meets a wild and crazy girl who completely messes up his life and he starts to fall in love with her. The robots act, talk and fill all the same strata of society that people do and could easily have been done without the robot angle, but that would have been a lot less fun somehow. This is the sort of thing that should appeal to fans of “Demo” or “Teenagers from Mars.” And the book looks absolutely spectacular, with some of the best coloring (from Nick Filardi) and reproduction on the stands. Grade: B+

Flytrap, Episode One: Juggling Act

Creators: Sara Ryan, writer; Steve Leiber, artist

Cold Water Press, 16 pages, black and white, $2

So? File this under “how did I miss this the first time?” Steve Leiber is artist of the fantastic Whiteout series of a few years back and has done some stuff here and there since including some Batman stories. This self-published chapbook tells the tale of Maddy, who works in a talent agency of some sort and has a terrible day trying to juggle work, her flaky boyfriend and traffic tickets. Of course, the day ends with her losing her job, getting dumped and her car impounded, but that’s the impetus she needs to strike out on her own to manage a strange circus act. The notes indicate this is a pilot episode for a series about Maddy on the road with the act. And the book does such a good job of conveying her character in a mere 16 pages, that it would be a shame if we didn’t get to see more of her, whether it’s self-published by Ryan and Leiber or some smart publisher decides to pick it up. As a note, the book is not available in stores so you have to go to Leiber's web site or find them at a convention to pick this up. It’s worth it. Grade: A

Thread #1

Creators: Emily Benz, writer; Summer McClinton, artist

40 pages, black and white, $4

So? This book received a grant from the Xeric Foundation, and it’s easy to see why. Benz writes a story about a young woman named Frankie trying to get by in the urban jungle on a crap job with no support from her long-gone family. The writing is heartfelt and real  with excellent dialog and well-rounded characters. And then there’s McClinton’s stunning artwork, which looks nothing like a comicbook but is somehow perfectly suited to it at the same time. Stylized, urban and beautiful, the art and the story unfold in a perfectly natural way that makes the next issue (and likely collection) something to really look forward to. There are a few problems with the packaging of this issue, such as there’s no price anywhere on the book and no information to be found on who published it. But the book is so bold and beautiful it’s sure to generate plenty of interest anyway. Grade: A

UDON Entertainment jumps into the ring with the first series published under its own banner: Street Fighter II #0. Book's release coincides with Street Fighter Month this October. Capcom fans got their first fix with the UDON-produced, Devil's Due-published Street Fighter comicbook series in 2004. Ryu continues his quest to perfect his fighting skills with Shadowloo lurking in the background. This introductory issue will weigh in at 32 full-color pages and come packaged with an exclusive trading card previewing the Street Fighter Epic Battles Trading Card Game. If that's not enough Ryu for you, UDON plans to reprint the English version "Street Fighter: Eternal Challenge" art book. Once your done flipping pages, pick up the remote and turn on the "Street Fighter Alpha: Generations" DVD from Manga Entertainment. Manga follows up the popular "Street Fighter Alpha" anime with a new story. This prequel delves deep into Ryu's history and brings him face-to-face his arch-enemy Gouki. Ikuo Kuwana ("Neon Genesis Evangelion") makes his directorial debut with Kazufumi Nomura ("Robot Carnival") producing. The DVD lands on retail shelves on Oct. 25.

Who says fanboys don't like sports? At the beginning of this year, Upper Deck Entertainment announced its Rewards Program to get card collectors up close and personal with their favorite athletes. Fans bid for these once-in-a-lifetime meetings (and other sports memorabilia) by using points accumulated from purchasing Upper Deck baseball, football, basketball and hockey trading cards. Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett, Derek Jeter, Ken Griffrey Jr. and Tiger Woods are just some of the Upper Deck spokesmen up for auction in these Ultimate Sports Experience meetings. The last Ultimate Sports Experience brought LeBron James to the Upper Deck headquarters to ball with the lucky winner. Aside from throwing down some nasty slams, LeBron also had his own ultimate experience as he got up close and personal with Batman.

Does this mean Vs. System card collectors get to the chance to meet their favorite superheroes too? We'll just have to wait and see what Upper Deck has in store.

Speaking of the Vs. card game, Konami Digital Entertainment announced last month that they will take the Marvel Trading Game digital. In a joint agreement with Marvel Enterprises and Upper Deck, Konami has exclusive worldwide rights to make a game for current and future consoles and handhelds. Konami has past experience in porting card games to video games with the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. With TCG players being consulted early in the development, expect a game that satisfies both the hardcore and casual players.

Harvey Pekar’s been writing comics stories about himself for more than 30 years in the pages of “American Splendor.” But until now he’s never written about his life before he began publishing comics. “The Quitter,” a hardcover graphic novel illustrated by Dean Haspiel and coming out Oct. 5 from DC/Vertigo, changes that as Pekar tells the story of how he came to be comics’ most famous real-life curmudgeon.

The decision to write about this period of his life came in a roundabout way and involved repaying Haspiel for a major favor, Pekar says. “Dean Haspiel is the guy who introduced me to Ted Hope, from the movie company that made ‘American Splendor,’ and that was one of the biggest breaks that ever happened to me,” he says. “So I said to Dean, ‘What can I do, within reason, to pay you back?’ And he said that he’d like it if I would let him illustrate a long work of mine.”

Haspiel was at the time working for DC Comics and got the company interested in publishing Pekar’s next work. “At first we were just kicking around different ideas. I didn’t exactly know what I’d have to write in order to get DC to accept it. I guess my stature had grown to the point they were willing to consider stuff from me. I thought I might have to write something that was pretty much a compromise.”

Originally, the project was to be fiction, but morphed into nonfiction in the development.
“When I started doing this stuff, it just seemed to me to be so much better if I wrote it as it happened in an autobiographical way. And so I just did that and fortunately they liked it. They got behind it. I have to say I’ve gotten great support from them.”

At just over 100 pages, “The Quitter” is the longest story Pekar has written, but it retains the honest, warts-and-all look at his life that has been the hallmark of his work. The title comes from Pekar’s penchant to give up on various pursuits as a kid and recounts problems controlling his temper and holding a job.

“The reason I covered the period I did was I had never really gone to any great length to write about the years prior to the age of 32, when I first started publishing autobiographical comics,” Pekar says. “So I thought I’d write about what made me such a neurotic curmudgeon. It seems people are always interested in the curmudgeon angle.”

Pekar says he has no problem writing about his own faults or mistakes he’s made in his life.
“It’s not difficult because, maybe I’m a freak, but I don’t think I did anything that I should be ashamed of. I certainly made some bad judgments and got myself really badly messed up, but I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t ruin anybody’s life or anything like that. There are much worse that you can do to people,” he says. “I try and talk about my faults and hope that others will identify with what I write. I mean, what’s the point of writing self-aggrandizing autobiography? To me, there is none.”

Pekar says he still writes comics the way it was portrayed in the 2003 “American Splendor” movie, using stick figure layouts with captions and word balloons for the artist to work from. Pekar and Haspiel had previously worked together on a handful of pages and Pekar says he was very happy with the results on “The Quitter.” “To my amazement, he was able to bring off practically to the letter what I asked him to do — or wanted him to do, anyway. He did some things that I hadn’t thought of, but they were all good.” Pekar says he and Haspiel have a few more collaborations in the work, including short strips for Playboy and Spin, and a short story for Dark Horse Comics.

“He’s got pretty good connections in New York and he was able to line up some jobs for us. And as far as I’m concerned, if he can line up work, I mean by using my name, well go ahead,” Pekar says.

Finding a place in the market hasn’t always been easy for Pekar, whose work often was lumped in with superhero comics by general audiences and largely ignored by comicbook fans who preferred superheroes and fantasy. Pekar published “American Splendor” himself at a loss and never expected to make money on the venture, especially after a series of well-known appearances on “Late Night with David Letterman” in the 1980s had no real effect on his sales. It took the “American Splendor” movie to change that.

“I didn’t think my comics had any kind of commercial potential,” Pekar says. “I thought, ‘God, if I can’t get people to buy comics — go on the David Letterman show and act the fool — and not get any response, it’d take like an act of God to sell these things.’ But when they made the movie, they put out a companion volume, a trade paperback, and that sold real well. And since then I’ve put out a couple of more books and they’ve sold pretty well, too.”

Pekar says he has a few more longer projects in the works and is pleased with the way comics have matured as a creative medium even if the realities of working in comics don’t necessarily match the perceived popularity of the medium.

“I’m personally very pleased that after so many years comics have opened up to works of unlimited length. It’s ridiculous that at one point a novelist could write as much as they wanted but a cartoonist was limited to at most a few dozen pages. Matter of fact, that’s one of the main things I got into comics to accomplish, was try and make it — I mean I don’t know how much influence I’ve had — make it a medium that doesn’t do just superheroes and talking animals,” he says. “I think there’s no subject that you can’t deal with in comics.”

Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada will be guest of honor at the New York Comic-Con, the new trade and consumer comics show planned by Reed Exhibitions for late February. The show also has announced that Dark Horse, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Sci-Fi Channel have signed on as exhibitors, while the Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association has signed on as a sponsoer. The convention also announced the addition of several key contributors, naming Milton Griepp of ICV2.com as chairman of programming, Terry Chu of FlyByNightDesign.com as head of anime programming, and Steve Rosato of BookExpo America as conference and special events director. Reed Exhibitions is a division of Reed Elsevier, which owns Variety.

GLOBAL MANGA: Viz Media has teamed up with the World Bank to produce a new manga series called "1 World Manga" that will address global issues such as poverty, HIV/AIDS and the environment. The press release says the serious themes will be part of an action and romance story centered around an orphaned teenager who wants to be the best fighter in the world. World Bank will distribute copies of the book to more than 300 libraries around the world and Viz will give proceeds from the sales of the book to various charities.

MARVEL 2006: Some of Marvel's plans for the coming year have trickled out of the retailer summit held recently in Baltimore. Plans include:

• The return of The Eternals, in both a hardcover collection of Jack Kirby's 1970s series and a project related to the group that will be written by Neil Gaiman.
• Next summer's big event will be called "Planet Hulk." The first bits of story will appear this fall in The Incredible Hulk.
• This summer's event, House of M, will lead to titles including Decimation, Generation M, X-Men: Deadly Genesis, Sentinel Squad O.N.E. and X-Men: The 198.
• Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's run on Astonishing X-Men will resume with the first of 13 new issues in February.
• Mark Millar will write a project called 1985, which will use photography and digital art to tell the story of a kid who goes through all the events that occurred in the Marvel Universe in 1985.
• Reprint collections include an X-Men Omnibus collection in time for the release of "X-Men 3," 18 volumes of hardcover Marvel Masterworks and 24 volumes in the Marvel Essentials series. There also will be a digest series of J2.

Mister Miracle #1

Creators: Grant Morrison, writer; Pasqual Ferry, artist

DC Comics, 32 pages, color, $2.99

So? The second phase of Morrison's Seven Soldiers megaseries kicks off with this four-issue revival of Jack Kirby's escape artist superhero. But this isn't the Mister Miracle fans of Kirby's Fourth World know and love; instead it's Shilo Norman wearing the mask and miraculously escaping from the gravity of a black hole in the opening pages. It's tough to work on Kirby's DC characters because they were such an extention of the artist, and anyone else's interpretation invariably disappoints simply by not being Kirby's. The continuity that put Shilo in this identity is something I missed, but however it happened Morrison makes this story work well. It's got an edgy tone that mixes a small taste of Kirby with a thoroughly contemporary setting, making for a mix that's far enough removed from previous versions of the character to stand on its own. Ferry's art is terrific and the coloring of Dave McCaig puts a great visual twist on Kirby's costumes by making the distinctive outlines glow. While Identity Crisis and House of M have made the most noise, Seven Soldiers is so far the most satisfying and original big comics event in a long time. Grade: A-

Polly & The Pirates #1

Creator: Ted Naifah

Oni Press, 32 pages, black and white, $2.99

So? Polly Pringle is a shy, orphan girl attending a 19th century private school, who avoids even her best friend's pleas to take part in the normal adventures of childhood. So of course, she wakes up one day to find herself on a ship full of pirates who say they need her to take the place of their vanished captain, the pirate queen Meg Molloy — who also turns out to be Polly's mother. Naifeh, creator of the popular Courtney Crumrin series, does another excellent job creating a compelling children's story with a girl hero. The story is solid and Naifeh's slick cartooning is modern, pretty and charming. Grade: A-

Financial analysis website The Motley Fool made a bit of splash in the comics blogosphere with a column about the financial state of Marvel that sees some disturbing but familiar problems lurking beneath the company's rosy quarterly reports. The writer, Nathan Alderman, argues that Marvel needs to do more to revitalize its publishing efforts to develop new properties that can be exploited 10, 20 or 50 years down the line rather than relying on its current library of vital but still aging franchises.

This is an old problem, but one that's increasingly troublesome in the face of new competition for comics readers from manga and graphic novels. For those who are familiar with and have affection for the comics biz as it has existed the past two tumultuous decades, it's almost impossible to separate comics as a whole from those heroes. Everyone has a favorite hero or title they think defines comics and think should be the standard bearer creatively and commercially. Those arguments go something like "Superman should have the best writers and artists and be the top-selling comicbook every month because he was the first, most important superhero and the market should reflect that."

And while comics should be proud of its contributions to the popular culture, there is always that nagging question of where does the next big thing come from? For Marvel and DC, it's been a long dry spell and in many ways it's one of their own creation. Every fan and potential creator since the 1970s knows the story of how Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster sold the rights to Superman to National Periodicals Publications for a mere $130, and while they benefited greatly as the character first took off they were blacklisted when they tried to re-assert their rights in court and spend decades living in near-poverty. They also know the story of Jack Kirby, who created most of Marvel's most popular heroes for a flat page rate and received no royalties and, still to this day, no consistent creator credit in the pages of Marvel comics. Those are the two most famous cases, and they ended with some kind of settlement where the publishers gave something back to the artists. But there's dozens, if not hundreds more who got far, far less.

The obvious lesson that creators learned was that if you have a great character, you don't put it in a standard Marvel or DC book; you wait for that creator-owned opportunity. The sales incentives both publishers instituted about 25 years ago worked extremely well for creators such as Chris Claremont, who owns none of the characters or stories he wrote on his 16-year run as writer of "X-Men" but was well-compensated for his efforts. Those payments did a lot to revitalize Marvel and DC comics in the 1980s but also created a bit of an illusion about creators' role in the process at those companies. Despite the big bonuses, writers and artists were still replaceable and still had no ownership. That led to seven of Marvel's top artists leaving the publisher en masse to form Image Comics. Image won the creator rights battle for those artists, but their poor writing and business skills only exacerbated the comics crash of the mid-1990s that still casts a long shadow on the biz.

The Fool points out that Marvel's last major superhero creations were Wolverine and The Punisher, both of which first appeared as almost throwaway characters in 1974. The major new comics creations since then have almost all come from creator-owned work: Los Bros. Hernandez's "Love & Rockets," Dave Sim's "Cerebus," Mike Mignola's "Hellboy" and Frank Miller's "Sin City." Even the rare exceptions, such as Neil Gaiman's "Sandman," has the character and creative characteristics of creator ownership.

This leaves Marvel and DC in a dilemma. They have complete ownership of some of the most recognizable and popular characters in popular culture. To not do everything possible to exploit those resources is foolish. But the era and unique circumstances that led to their creation are long gone, and no amount of research, development and funding is likely to even come close to producing similar results — a point proven by the list of defunct publishers that tried to do so, from Valiant to CrossGen.

So what we're left with is an audience that is intensely fixated on the iconic superheroes it got hooked on in its youth — most of which were all cleverly revived and revamped versions of characters their parents and in some cases their grandparents would have read about when they were kids. That's still what sells best and creators who know how to play well with these characters still can do very well writing and drawing books about Green Lantern or Spider-Man. Many seem to do their superhero work to finance the creator-owned gigs that get the best of their abilities, much the same way people in the film biz will do big studio pics in order to afford to do the indie film they're passionate about.

Sensitive to the way they've treated creators in the past, both Marvel and DC have for decades offered imprints or outlets for creator-owned material. Those imprints have, even when successful, rarely sold well enough to rival the sales on superhero books. It makes sense, though. Why should a company promote and invest heavily in untested properties it has to share profits on when it has classic, time-tested characters to which it's entitled to all the profits? The execs at these companies today are far removed from the disputes with the original creators and therefore have no reason even to feel guilty about making these choices.

Which comes back to the Motley Fool's basic question of 'Where is the next generation of innovative characters and stories that will keep Marvel Comics strong well into the future?" The same question could be asked of DC, which does have a wider, more diverse publishing slate but is still behind Marvel in sales and market share. Does the continual focus on established characters keep DC and Marvel from finding the next Superman or Fantastic Four (titles that were true innovations in the field and created audiences that were excited about reading comics)? Does the audience's continual fixation on these characters and lackluster interest even in new titles from major publishers reinforce this to the point of self-fulfilling prophecy? Something needs to change not just at Marvel or DC, but in the market as a whole. It needs to change while things are relatively stable and the cooperation and resources necessary to build on the progress of the past few years are in place.

"The Losers," the DC/Vertigo revival of the old war comics staple, is in development for a feature film at DC parent studio Warner Bros. Peter Berg is set to write and possibly direct the pic, and will produce along with Akiva Goldsman. Current version of the book, by writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock, recasts the concept with a group of rogue CIA agents rather than WWII grunts. Berg wrote and helmed "Friday Night Lights" and Goldsman won an Oscar for the script to "A Beautiful Mind" and also worked on the screenplays for "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin."

TUBE TO PAGE: Damon Lindelof, co-creator and exec producer of the hit ABC series "Lost," will make Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk his first comics writing gig. The miniseries will debut in December with art by Leinil Francis Yu and will echo the first appearance of Wolverine more than 30 years ago in the pages of The Incredible Hulk #181. "Lost" has more than a few comics connections, with animation and comics scribe Paul Dini on staff and co-creator J.J. Abrams' unproduced Superman screenplay.

'JUSTICE' WINS SALES FIGHT: The top 300 comics index for August is out from Diamond Comics Distributors, with DC taking six of the top 10 slots with Justice #1 coming out on top. Infinite Crisis lead-in books and House of M continue to do well, as do the Ultimate books and X-Men titles. Supergirl did well with its debut at No. 6. Marvel edged DC 36%-35% in dollar value market share and 41%-39% in unit sales market share. The best-selling book not published by Marvel or DC was Aspen's Soulfire: Dying of the Light #1 at slot 86. Here's the top 20:

1. Justice #1 (DC)

2. The New Avengers #8 (Marvel)

3. The New Avengers #9 (Marvel)

4. House of M #5 (Marvel)

5. Astonishing X-Men #12 (Marvel)

6. Supergirl #1 (DC)

7. Green Lantern #3 (DC)

8. Green Lantern #4 (DC)

9. The Omac Project #5 (DC)

10. JLA #117 (DC)

11. The Uncanny X-Men #463 (Marvel)

12. Villains United #4 (DC)

13. The Ultimates Annual #1 (Marvel)

14. Ultimate Iron Man #3 (Marvel)

15. X-Men #174 (Marvel)

16. Ultimate X-Men #62 (Marvel)

17. Wolverine #31 (Marvel)

18. Ultimate Spider-Man #81 (Marvel)

19. Rann-Thanagar War #5 (DC)

20. Teen Titans #27 (DC)

Alan Moore and Gene Ha's "Top Ten: The Forty-Niners" was the most ordered graphic novel for the month and Viz's Naruto Vol. 7 was atop the manga list.

STORE AID: DC Comics has expanded its plans to assist comics retailers affected by Hurricane Katrina. The plan gives stores full credit for all DC items shipping from the start of August. It also provides credits towards restocking backlist books and assistance for co-op advertising to help stores reestablish themselves. Full details in the link.

Comics projects seeking to raise funds for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort continue to pop up, with Newsarama having the best ongoing list of projects. Among the new efforts are:

• Narwain Publishing plans a benefit book called "New Orleans and Jazz," due to come out in December with all proceeds going to relief orgs.
• Blank Label Comics is hosting a webcomic "telethon" all this week. Items include PvP strips featuring art by Scott Kurtz and Frank Cho. The event's site states it has nearlly $24,000 in pledges.
• eigoManga's making several of its publications available to fans who make donations for relief that will go to the Red Cross.
• Artist Mike Hawthorne of Queen & Country and Marvel's Machine Teen fame is auctioning off an original drawing of the auction winner as a superhero on Ebay.

Again, if you know of any comics-related relief efforts that have yet to be mentioned on this blog, send me the details in an email and they'll go up as soon as possible.

PW NEWSLETTER: Publisher's Weekly is launching a free weekly e-newsletter covering comics, manga and graphic novels. This looks like a must-read for anyone interested in the business of comics. And for the record, PW is owned by Reed Business Information, the same company that runs Variety.

COLLECTORS, ON YOUR MARKS: ICV2.com says some very limited retailer variant comics will be given out to those attending the Diamond/Alliance Retailer Summits this year in Baltimore, Md., and Fort Wayne, Ind. DC will provide a penciled cover version of All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder #1; IDW offers a gold edition of Transformers #0. Baltimore attendees only also will receive a Joe Madureira variant cover edition of House of M #1 from Marvel, and limited editions from Image Comics of Fell #1 and Fear Agent #1. Previous retailer editions have commanded hefty prices on the back issue market because of their extreme rarity.

DOUBLE THE 'SIN': Details have finally come out on the "Sin City: Recut & Extended" two-disc DVD set due Dec. 13. The set will feature both the theatrical cut and the extended cut, which features 23 mins. of additional footage. There's also tons of extras, including a complete copy of Frank Miller's  original "Sin City" graphic novel, now known as "The Hard Goodbye."

Diamond Comics Distributors announced last week a small but potentially major change that could have a significant effect on small press houses and self-publishers. The terms under which Diamond agrees to distribute comics call for a sales benchmark of $1,500 retail value, which for the average $3 indie comic is about 500 copies. While Diamond has in the past filled orders on items it accepted for solicition even when they did not meet the benchmark and frequently bent the rules for books they considered of merit to the market, the company will now cancel any orders that do not meet sales standards. The standard appears to extend to "offered again" solicitations. Setting a solid sales standard may help improve the market by keeping books that can't sell 500 copies from getting distribution. But it also could cut off great books that need time to build their audience. Many on the Web cite Love & Rockets, Cerebus and Bone as books that would not have made it out of the starting gate under these rules.

IGNATZ NOMS: The nominees for the 9th annual Ignatz Awards were announced. The nominees were chosen by a panel of comics artists that comprised Jennifer Daydreamer, Shaenon Garrity, James Kochalka, Jeff Parker and Dan Zettwoch. The winners will be decided by votes cast by attendees at the Small Press Expo Sept. 23-24 in Bethesda, Md. The winners will be announced in a ceremony at 9 p.m. on Sept. 24.

OUTSTANDING ARTIST

• David B. for "Epileptic" (Pantheon) and "Babel" (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Jeffrey Brown for "Bighead" (Top Shelf Productions)
• Roger Langridge for "Fred the Clown" (Fantagraphics)
• Seth for "Clyde Fans, Book 1" (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Craig Thompson for "Carnet de Voyage" (Top Shelf Productions)

OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY OR COLLECTION

• "Above and Below: Two Tales of the American Frontier," by James Sturm (Drawn & Quarterly)
• "Dead Herring Comics," edited by Actus, (Actus Independent Comics)
• "Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man," by John Porcellino (La Mano)
• "Fred the Clown," by Roger Langridge (Fantagraphics)
• "Hutch Owen: Unmarketable," by Tom Hart (Top Shelf Productions)

OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC NOVEL

• "Bighead," by Jeffrey Brown (Top Shelf Productions)
• "Carnet de Voyage," by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf Productions)
• "Cinema Panopticum," by Thomas Ott (L'Association, Fantagraphics)
• "Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return," by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon)
• "Why Are You Doing This?" by Jason (Fantagraphics Books)

OUTSTANDING STORY

• "Dogs and Water," by Anders Nilsen (Drawn and Quarterly)
• “Dumb Solitaire,” from Love and Rockets #11 and #13, by Gilbert Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
• "Homme De Le Bois," from The Frank Ritza Papers, by David Collier (Drawn & Quarterly)
• "The Legend of Wild Man Fischer," by  Dennis P. Eichorn and J.R. Williams (Top Shelf Productions)
• "Onion Jack," from Superior Showcase #0, by Joel Priddy (AdHouse Books)

PROMISING NEW TALENT

• Joshua W. Cotter, for "Skyscrapers of the Midwest" (AdHouse Books)
• Rebecca Dart, for "RabbitHead" (Alternative Comics)
• Vanessa Davis, for "Spaniel Rage" (Buenaventura Press)
• Andy Runton, for "Owly" (Top Shelf Productions)
• Karl Stevens, for "Guilty" (Karl Stevens Publishing, dist. by Alternative Comics)

OUTSTANDING SERIES

• "Bipolar," by Tomer Hanuka, Asaf Hanuka and Etgar Keret (Alternative Comics)
• "Deadpan," by David Heatley (Self-published)
• "Finder," by Carla Speed McNeil (Lightspeed Press)
• "Love and Rockets Vol. II," by Los Bros Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
• "Skyscrapers of the Midwest," by Joshua W. Cotter (AdHouse Books)

OUTSTANDING COMIC

• "Dogs & Water," by Anders Nilsen (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Love & Rockets #13, by Los Bros. Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
• Love & Rockets #12, by Los Bros. Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
• Or Else #1, by Kevin Huizenga (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Worn Tuff Elbow #1, by Marc Bell (Fantagraphics)

OUTSTANDING MINICOMIC

• Couch Tag #2, by Jesse Reklaw  (Self-published)
• Dance, by John Hankiewicz (Self-published)
• Monday, by Andy Hartzell (Self-published)
• Ouija Interview #3, by Sarah Becan (Self-published)
• Phase 7, by Alec Longstreth (Self-published)

OUTSTANDING ONLINE COMIC

• Ballad, by deadmouse (http://www.moderntales.com)
• Copper, by Kazu Kibuishi (http://www.boltcity.com)
• Dicebox, by Jenn Manley Lee (http://www.jennworks.com)
• The Perry Bible Fellowship, by Nicholas Gurewitch (http://www.thepbf.com)
• Superslackers, by Steven Manale (www.superslackers.com)

OUTSTANDING DEBUT NOMINEES

• "676 apparitions of Killoffer," by Killoffer, Typocrat Press
• "Action Philosphers: Self Help For Stupid Ugly Losers #1," by Ryan Dunlavy & Fred Van Lente
• "American Music: A-Z," by Ben Towle
• "Big Fat Whale's Sea Anomie," by Brian McFadden
• "Conversations #2," by James Kochalka & Jeffrey Brown, Top Shelf Productions
• "The Dada Alphabet," An Absurdist's Primer, Freese, Milloway & Wood
• "Dr. Dremo, Vol.1," DC Conspiracy
• "House of Twelve's Rashoman," by Cheese Hasselberger, House of Twelve
• "Matriculated," by Phillip Chan, Digital Pimp Productions
• "Merde," by Steve Ahlquist, Chris Reilly & Ben Towle
• "Owly, Vol. 3," by Andy Runton, Top Shelf Productions
• "Pale Fire," by MK Reed
• "Strange Detective Tales: Dead Love #2," by Jesse Bausch & Jim Callahan, Oddgod Press
• "Stupid and Unkind," by Robin Enrico
• "Superf*ckers #2," by James Kochalka, Top Shelf Productions
• "The Surrogates #2," by Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele, Top Shelf Productions
• "True Porn, Vol. 2," edited by Robyn Chapman & Kelli Nelson, Alternative Comics
• "Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed?" by Liz Prince, Top Shelf Productions
• "Zed: Setting the Scene," by Duane M. Abe, Corkey Comics

BEST PRESS RELEASE OF THE DAY: The following comes from Kyle Baker Publishing and, alas, seems to confirm the death of Plastic Man even as it celebrates the company's top creator, Kyle Baker:

KYLE BAKER SIGNS EXCLUSIVE WITH KYLE BAKER PUBLISHING

Press Release

Kyle Baker Publishing announced today it has finalized an exclusive agreement with the legendary cartoonist and graphic novel pioneer Kyle Baker, granting the cartoonist an unprecedented degree of creative control and profit participation.

“KBP is an amazing publisher. I’ve had a great working relationship with them for years,” says Baker. “They’ve done an incredible job with NAT TURNER and the CARTOONIST books. When I saw what they had planned for 2006, I was ready to sign on the dotted line.”

As much praise as Baker has for his publisher, a good deal of the credit for the company’s meteoric success rests with Baker, who has created for KBP such terrific characters as NAT TURNER and, well, KYLE BAKER.

“Yes, it’s safe to say that Kyle Baker drawing Kyle Baker is the perfect fit between character and creator,” observes Kyle Baker Publishing president Elizabeth Glass. “Kyle Baker is the character Kyle Baker was born to draw.”

While sources are hesitant to divulge specific dollar amounts, it has been verified that Baker’s new contract grants him one hundred percent of all profits.

“That’s including toys,” notes Glass, gesturing at the prototypes of the Baker Family Play Set, photos of which appear in the current issue of THE BAKERS, which debuted in stores last week. “We really didn’t want to give him toy or DVD participation, but he was adamant. Basically he gets everything. Him and his family. The DVD looks great, by the way. He will make a shitload of money when that thing drops this winter.”

The current friendly atmosphere is a marked difference from a few months ago, when public battles over missed deadlines and out of control budgets nearly resulted in Baker’s being ousted from the two KBP titles he currently draws.

Baker first butted heads with the suits when he impulsively delivered a 48 page manuscript for a 32 page book, NAT TURNER #1. He followed this up by delivering THE BAKERS #1 late, also with an extra 16 pages too much.

Glass shakes her head, remembering those days. “You can’t do stuff like that, come in a month late with an extra 32 pages! You know what that costs? People get fired over ____ like that! Who sells 48 pages for $3? That’s crazy stuff! Anyway, the books are getting great reviews, and we’re doing numbers any indy would give his left nut for. So he was right.

“Also, his schedule has been lightened considerably, with that DC book out of the way. So now he can really focus on NAT TURNER and THE BAKERS. In stores now, so cop ‘em!”

Fell #1

Creators: Warren Ellis, writer; Ben Templesmith, artist

Image Comics, 24 pages, color, $1.99

So? The story of Richard Fell, a loner cop assigned to a new post in the worst part of a nasty town, seems tailor-made for Ellis and Templesmith. But Fell, who makes new friends and solves his first crime in this debut issue, is a much more sympathetic and human protagonist than is the norm for Ellis, giving the story an extra touch of character and warmth. Templesmith’s paintings bring the lonely city and lonelier characters to life with surprising vividness. This is Ellis’ best character work since Transmet. Grade: A-

Ghost Rider #1

Creators: Garth Ennis, writer; Clayton Crain, artist

Marvel, 48 pages, color, $2.99

So? Ghost Rider is one of those comics characters who has lacked great stories to go with his stunning visual. The character’s long history (which goes way back to a 1950s Western title) has only proved especially popular during the boom of the early 1990s. But with a movie coming next year, Marvel’s brought in Garth Ennis of Preacher and Punisher fame and artist Clayton Crain to try to give some life to the character. And this first issue is on the right track. Full of Ennis trademarks including indifferent and manipulative angels, small-town goofballs and strange villains, there is an interesting framework here for Ghost Rider (who is something of a background character in this issue) to be more than just a cool-looking image. Throw in fantastic artwork from Clayton Crain, who gives the entire book the look of a top-notch CGI effect, and you’ve got a thick book worth a good look at a decent price. Grade: B+

Superman-Shazam!: First Thunder #1

Creators: Judd Winick, writer; Joshua Middleton, artist

DC Comics, 48 pages, color, $3.50

So? Art junkies love Josh Middleton’s art, and with good reason. The artist behind CrossGen’s Meridian and Marvel’s NYX has landed at DC pairing up the Man of the Steel and the World’s Mightiest Mortal. Middleton does the art and the colors, bringing a bright, animation style to these characters that’s just cool to look at and soak in. Winick’s story gives Middleton a good if basic cross-over foundation and there’s lots of cool stuff such as giant robots, big blue monsters and a few nifty-looking magical spells. Grade: B

The Bakers #1

Creator: Kyle Baker

Kyle Baker Publishing, 48 pages, black and white, $3

So? Kyle Baker may be too good and too funny for the good of comics. How else to explain the lack of real competition for Baker’s humor efforts than that Baker’s so good no one wants to compete with him in any way, shape or form? This book is full of short, mostly silent and very funny tales of Baker’s life as a father trying to get some rest, convince his kids there aren’t monsters under the bed, and most frightening of all, taking the brood to the mall to find a gift for his wife. Grade: A

Giant Robot continues to take over Los Angeles as it opens its doors in Silver Lake. Now Eastsiders can get their fix for art books and mags, import DVDs and CDs, subversive T-shirts, PVC collectibles, one-of-a-kind art and everything else found in the Sawtelle store. The GR Silver Lake, 4017 Sunset Blvd., follows the successful opening of a location in New York's East Village and the gr/eats restaurant in West L.A. this past year.

The fun starts at 11:30 a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 10. Don't miss your chance to have a 30-second draw off with one of the featured artists; the crowd chooses the winner. Sponsors are throwing in giveaways when you willingly drop a hard-earned $30. You might be able to take home something special from Critterbox, Eenie Meenie Records, Gama-Go, Johnny Cupcakes, Obey, Palm Pictures, Panik House or Uglydoll.

A few more comics-related Hurricane Katrina relief projects:

• Robert Bienvenu from the Baton Rouge Cartoonists Society emailed with a call for submissions for a benefit anthology the group wants to have submissions by Friday, Sept. 16, so the book will be ready in time for the Small Press Expo Sept. 23-24 in Bethesda, Md. Robert says they're looking for short stories or one-page strips that celebrate the city of New Orleans. Details can be found on their website.
• The organizers of the Baltimore Comic-Con, which will be the first major con since the hurricane hit, are putting together a benefit sketchbook called "Drawing Strength," featuring contributions from many of the con's guests. The book will benefit Habitat for Humanity and be available to those who can't make the con at Skydog Comics' website. The con is Sept. 17-18.
• Comics writer and filmmaker Kevin Smith is auctioning off a number of items on his View Askew site, including a walk-on role in "Clerks 2" and a barbecue at the director's home.
• Dallas-based comics retailer Lone Star Comics is gathering up comics to help entertain the people staying in local shelters. According to an announcement on Newsarama, anyone with comics to donate can send them to:
  
  • Lone Star Comics
    ATTN: CHRIS POWELL / COMICS TO THE RESCUE
    511 E. Abram St.
    Arlington, TX 76010

More comicbook industry efforts to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina have come about over the holiday weekend.

• A group of creators that includes Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada, Neal Adams, Brian Michael Bendis, Jimmy Cheung, Jim Lee, Jeph Loeb, Mark Millar, John Romita Jr. and Joe Madureira will put items including artwork and original scripts up for auction to benefit the Red Cross under the group name The Inkwell. The auctions will begin on Ebay starting Sept. 12 and a website should go up in the next few days at www.inkwellrelief.com with more details.
• Retailer Mile High Comics is running a codeword sale where, using the codeword SENDHELP, customers receive 30% off any order of back issue comics and magazines and 10% of the net total of their purchase will be donated to the Salvation Army. Mile High owner Chuck Rozanski says in his email newsletter that based on orders over the weekend, the company has raised more than $3,800 so far.
• Artist Mike Avon Oeming has donated some art to the previously mentioned Brian Michael Bendis message board auction, including the cover to the original Powers #1 and the cover to Powers #13.
• Among smaller companies pitching in: Ronin Studios will publish a benefit book; creators wishing to participate can visit their boards for details. Jam Packed Publishing  will donate all proceeds from sales of its current book;  Broken Frontier is organizing an Ebay auction starting Sept. 9; AM Publications will donate to the Red Cross a portion of proceeds from the sale of each copy of its comicbook collection software The Comic Keeper.

Again, if anyone knows of any additional charity efforts, email me and I'll list them here.

NYT COMICS: The New York Times Magazine will add a comics section starting with the Sept. 18 issue, according to Editor and Publisher. Ten pages of the magazine will be turned over to a color comics section called "The Strip," and will feature work from top graphic novel artists. The first strip will be by Chris Ware.

FULL STEAM AHEAD: The inaugural New York Comic-Con has sold more than half its floorspace for the Feb. 24-26 show, putting the event ahead of expectations. The show is being organized by Reed Exhibitions, a sister company to Variety owner Reed Business Information, and Variety is sponsoring the event. The official site for the show now has more details on travel and accommodations for the show. Plans for an opening night Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art exhibit also are in the works.

Marvel has officially closed its deal with Merrill Lynch for $525 million in credit to produce its own features. The deal was first floated back in April and most of the details remain the same. Marvel also made official its distribution and markeing deal with Paramount and officially changed the name of the company from Marvel Enterprises to Marvel Entertainment. Marvel has 10 characters it has identified for development under the pack, most of them lesser-known characters as the company's most popular characters are already set up at studios. Marvel studios chief Avi Arad said in an interview earlier this summer that the company enjoys its partnerships with the studios and sees no reason to alter that approach.

The characters set for pics under the new deal are:

• Captain America. The patriotic hero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1941 for Timely Comics, the company that evolved into today's Mavel. The character has previously been seen on screen in a live-action 1940s serial, a pair of TV movies in the late 1970s and a straight-to-video feature in 1990.
• The Avengers. A team of Marvel's top superheroes, including Captain America, Iron Man and Thor.
• Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, Marvel's answer to James Bond in the 1960s. A TV movie version starring David Hasselhoff came and went on Fox in the mid-1990s.
• Black Panther. An African monarch who became the first black super-hero when he first showed up in Fantastic Four #52. The character has been resilient in his own series the past few years.
• Ant-Man. The shrinking, ant-communicating hero who was one of Marvel's earliest superheroes and became better known as Giant-Man in the Avengers.
• Cloak and Dagger. A popular mid-1980s series about teen runaways who develop powers of light and darkness.
• Doctor Strange. The lo