September
16 "Losers" Wins One

"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.