Detective Comics #821 and Batman #655

Creators: Paul Dini, writer, and J.H. Williams III, artist (Detective); Grant Morrison, writer, and Andy Kubert, artist (Batman)
DC Comics, color, 32 pages and $2.99 each
So? One of the goals of the entire Infinite Crisis exercise was to solve some of the personality problems that had crept into the top DC characters. Superman is being recast as more heroic, while Batman’s problem was that he had become so grim and gritty that he was seen by many fans as a dick. The new creative teams on the two main Bat-books are now tackling that problem directly with exciting results. In Detective, Dini (best known for working on the classic Batman: The Animated Series) takes the title seriously as Batman tackles a case that requires brains more than brawn. He also is a lot more relaxed than we’re used to seeing him, reviving his bored playboy routine as Bruce Wayne to good effect. Williams makes excellent use of art and color to create a distinctive look for the book, and the self-contained story (the first of 12) is satisfying and fun to read. In Batman, Morrison brings some color and mystery into Batman’s life with a clever and colorful opening sequence involving the Joker. The Man-Bat also is in there. References are made to Batman needing to pay more attention to Bruce Wayne, and there appears to be a mysterious villain lurking in the shadows. The art by Kubert – long a fixture at Marvel – is terrifically exciting as it brings dynamism, speed and style to the character. Batman fans should be more than happy with these issues. What’s great to see is that the content and form of these single issues are entertaining enough to stand on their own and appeal to anyone interested in catching up with the Dark Knight. Grades: Detective, B+; Batman, B+

Angry Youth Comix #11

Creator: Johnny Ryan
Fantagraphics Books, 24 pages, black and white, $3.50
So? Not much has changed since we last reviewed this comic, but for those of us who think that Ryan’s the unheralded genius of tasteless toilet humor, you can never get enough. Trying to describe this book is nearly impossible, if for no other reason than if the person you’re trying to describe it to has any modicum of taste they’ll think the less of you just for admitting you read it, let alone like it. So be careful. But if you know people who think it’s funny to see 47 testicles plungered out of someone’s ear, or to see someone wear a suit made of celebrity assholes, then this is the book for you. What makes it work is that Ryan is completely unapologetic and unrestrained – essential when you’re doing this kind of material. Grade: A-

"Aquaman" tops iTunes

The pilot episode of the "Aquaman" TV series developed by "Smallville" creators Al Gough and Miles Millar is available for download on Apple's iTunes Music Store for the measly price of $1.99. The pilot is pretty polished and very comparable the quality of "Smallville." The show has been a top-seller since it went up earlier this week and as this is being typed it is at the top of the charts. Whether the public response to the pilot in this venue will help convince The CW to pick up the show as a midseason replacement after taking a pass for the fall will be fascinating to watch for its implications on the TV business. Could we see lots more shows testing the waters on the Internet to show demand to the network? Will networks test out shows the same way before committing to an order? At this point, it'd be surprising if those outcomes didn't become the norm.

Quesada on 'Colbert'; Lee and Mignola on Sci Fi

Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada will be appearing on “The Colbert Report” tonight on Comedy Central at 11:30 p.m. and repeated the next day at 1:30 am and 8 pm. It’s rare to see a pro who works so heavily and exclusively in comics sit down for this type of interview. Quesada said last week at his Cup o’ Joe panel at Comic-Con that he’s more nervous about this appearance than any other interview he’s done. Given some of the questions Colbert has asked celebs and newsmakers alike, this may be one of the most insightful mainstream comics interviews in a while.

This is part of a big night for comics fans on cable TV. Over on Sci Fi Channel, Stan Lee’s “Who Wants to be a Superhero?” makes its series premiere at 9 p.m., followed by the half-hour special/pilot for Mike Mignola’s “The Amazing Screw-On Head” at 10:30.

Stan's still the man

Stan Lee is still creating new superheroes. His company, POW! Entertainment and IDT Entertainment have teamed up to create a pair of new animated superheroes that will debut on DVD under the banner “Stan Lee Presents” and air later on Cartoon Network.
“They’re pretty much Marvel type, you know, what I’ve done all the time, but they’re different. I don’t want to repeat myself,” Lee said Saturday at Comic-Con Intl.
The first feature stars a teen-age superhero character called Condor. “I felt that it was time that we had a really good Latin superhero,” says Lee. “He’s a skateboarding wizard also. And you can since it’s in animation, there’s so much we can do with the skateboarding.”
Lee says Condor will be in some ways similar to his hallmark creation, Spider-Man, in that he’ll have to deal with his parents, girl trouble and school. “It has a lot of action, but I’d like to think it also has a lot of heart.”
The second title is Mosaic. “Mosaic is a little more fanciful. There’s more fantasy to it and it has to do with another race of people,” Lee says. “Again, we place it in the real world with a lot of real world situations and incidents so that it doesn’t seem ridiculous or far-fetched.”
Condor and Mosaic will debut on DVD first and then air on Cartoon Network in the first quarter of 2007.
But that’s not all. Lee also says he’s working on developing a movie called “The Forever Man” at Paramount. The project is still in the early stages of development and writing the screenplay.
Lee also has his reality competition show, “Who Wants to Be a Superhero?” debuting Thursday on Sci Fi Channel.
“Obviously, we can’t expect them to try to leap over buildings or run faster than a Ferrari, so we test them on qualities that we think a superhero should have, like courage, sympathy, dependability,” Lee says.
Early response from critics and viewers has been positive and Lee says he’s happy with the sportsmanlike tone of the show. “The people don’t hate each other. They’re not out to hurt each other. They’re all competing, but all the competitors have become friends and when one is eliminated you should see how the others try to comfort the one who was eliminated.”
Lee also is getting back into the comics action, scripting the “lost issue” of Fantastic Four, which will reconstruct the original plot and art for issue #102, which was Jack Kirby’s last on the title.
Marvel will be celebrating Lee’s 65th anniversary with the company next year with a special project. For each issue, Lee will write a 10-page story in which he interacts with one of his Marvel creations and another 10-page story written by the company’s top writers that will be in some way about Stan.
“I made them funny,” he says. “Nobody has ever done a humorous story about these characters. The world may not realize this, but I love to write humor. I like to write humor more than anything. So I finally had a chance to get it out of my system.”
Lee says he kept that humorous approach for an X-Men comic book story he wrote for an upcoming DVD release of the movie trilogy. “I figure if I’m going to write comics, there’s no point in just doing another X-Men adventure,” he says. “But by making them funny, it’s all a new way of looking at it. But I’m doing them in a humorous way without changing the characters. The humor comes out of my interplay with the characters, but the characters remain in character. I’m not poking fun.”

Comic-Con notes: Sony, Fables, Dark Tower, G4

A few final notes as Comic-Con rides into the sunset for another year:

* The Sony panel made a huge splash Saturday. Nic Cage and Eva Mendes showed up to tease "Ghost Rider," coming in February. Cage, a well-known comics fan who took part of his name from Marvel's Power Man, also announced he and his son, Weston, are writing a comic for Virgin Comics tentatively called "Enigma."

* "Spider-Man 3" was the star of this panel though. A huge panel showed up, led by director Sam Raimi. Stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Dallas Bryce Howard, Thomas Hayden Church and Topher Grace also were there. The short clip showed at long last made official what most have known for a long time: that Grace will play Venom in the pic. The clip ended with the alien goop of Venom covering Grace and fans got their first look at Venom for a moment before he leaped at the camera and it all faded to black.

* An interesting experiment will be going on in the pages of Fables. Writer Bill Willingham says an upcoming issue will be used to answer fans' questions with a number of micro stories. Fans can submit their questions to Willingham at the DC/Vertigo message board and through the Fabletown board.

* DC made its plans for All-Star Wonder Woman official, with Adam Hughes on board to write and draw the book.

* Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada says work is going well on the Stephen King Dark Tower comic book series. Quesada says King spun a massive story for Marvel during a planning meeting that had enough material for "3,000 issues." Artist Jae Lee has already completed four issues and is at work on the fifth.

* G4 TV broadcast live from the floor of Comic-Con on Friday for two hours -- a first for the show. The channel followed up with a Comic-Con focused episode of Attack of the Show on Monday and will do so again today (so there's still time to catch it). As cool as it is to see Comic-Con on TV, the content could go a little deeper than oogling at girls in costumes and perfunctory floor reports.

Cuaron's sneak peak

"Children of Men," the latest endeavor from Alfonso Cuaron, was previewed at Comic-Con on Friday with several clips. The director, who is known for his genre-jumping pics, was present at the following Q&A, which has hosted by fellow filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro.

Based on the novel by P.D. James, the sci-fi thriller is set in the near-future in a world where mankind has lost the ability to reproduce. Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine, Cuaron creates a gritty, warzone in a futuristic London where bitterness and desolation takes over the better part of the population.

"If you know there are no future generations, you not only don't build, but you don't maintain," stated Cuaron.

"We didn't want to do a film on the future. We wanted to do one on present matters. It needed to show intimacy," continued the director. "I started writing it in 2001. A fundamental factor was 9/11. It signaled the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century."

Amidst the rubble, chaos and pessimism in "The Children of Men," the pic keeps with the sci-fi theme with small signs of future society, such as high-tech ads, newer cars and gadgets galore.

"We had to create a future with elements that wouldn't be alien to the audience," Cuaron stated.

"All of the ideas are great because they are ideas of the future, but a little played down," added Del Toro.

The future isn't the only prevailing theme of "Children." The film also makes a statement on issues regarding immigration. In the film, England has begun shipping illegal aliens to camps and prisons in an effort to better control the tumultuous population. "One of the big themes of the 21st century is immigration and it's the main theme of the film," said Cuaron.

"By the way, I do have my green card on me," quipped Del Toro.

In the film, Owen plays a former activist Theo Faron, a man pulled back into old habits in an effort to protect the last pregnant woman on Earth and mankind's only hope.

"Clive is becoming an important leading man. When they suggested him, I was thrilled," stated the director. "Clive understood the character not as a superhero, but as a regular Joe. A man who wants a second chance."

Lending a hand to Owen's character is Moore, who plays his ex-wife-turned-freedom fighter, and Caine as Jasper, a confident who appears to embrace the '60s more than the future.

"We wrote the role thinking of him. He felt comfortable with the whole thing. He had his own ideas on the character, like an older John Lennon," says Cuaron. "After makeup and hair, he looked in the mirror and changed his body language. His wife entered the room and asked, 'Where is my husband?' He then said, 'I love this.'"

"Children of Men" will preem at the Venice Film Festival in August and is set for release on Sept. 29, 2006.

Tad Stones: Hellboy and beyond

Tad Stones is the writer, producer and director of "Hellboy: Swords of Storms," the new animated DVD feature film. His past credits include "The Return of Jafar," "Darkwing Duck," "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command," and "Atlantis II: Milo's Return," to name a few. After hosting the Hellboy animated panel at Comic-Con, he took a few minutes to chat about Hellboy, working in animation, future projects and his blog.

Thanks for meeting me to chat about this.

TS: No problem. I'm really excited about the project so it's easy to talk about.

I went to the screening, and you pretty much answered 90% of my questions there.

TS: Especially, the "What's Happening with Hellboy 2" question, right?

Actually, that's what my boss sent me to get.

TS: We had planned for the question/answer. We knew the first question would be, "What's happening with "Hellboy 2?" The second one will be, "Why aren't you making more 'Hellboy' comics?" And the third one will be "Why doesn't this look like the comic?" We tried to hit all that we could.

How did you happen upon "Hellboy"?

TS: I collected comics when I was a kid, fell out of it around college, got back into it around the time I came to Disney TV animation, and around that time there were many comic shops. It was the perfect time to get back into it because Frank Miller put out "The Dark Night Returns," "Watchmen" came out, and the independent comic book explosion happened. It was really fantastic. I went back to my old collection and realized some of it I was just collecting because I wanted a perfect set. I traded them in instead of getting cash. The guy would let me pick out any comic and I got to sample a large range. And I became familiar with Mike's work through "Cosmic Odyssey" with DC and his style really popped for me. I knew about "Hellboy" when it came out, so I read it since day one. It's been fantastic to work with him.

Why didn't you go with CG for "Sword of Storms"?

TS: Frankly it was a practical call on my part. There was a CG test done by a guy in Sweden and it looked fantastic and right out of the comic. But it took him two years to do because he was finessing it frame by frame. That was very interesting and it excited a lot of people. But I was like, what does Liz look like? What does the female characters look like? It had a kind of a puppetry look. Not like a high end project like Pixar. On a DVD level, you don't have time to finesse it.

The other reason is that part of the design of the movies -- and we hope to have a big series of movies -- is that the characters never go back to the same place twice. This is was really out of the question because you'll notice a lot of CG movies, like in science fiction, you'll have rocky planets or deserts in the background because you can generate those. But in "Hellboy," we might use an ancient English castle one day and tomorrow we'll have a Tibetan temple or now we're underwater.                  

People think the characters can be more detailed and you don't have to worry about models. I'm not worried about the characters, I'm concerned about the world around them and putting them in it. I knew we couldn't do it on our budget in CG as well as I could in a 2D universe. Frankly, the first question I was asked by the studio was, "Will this be 2D or CG?" I think they were taken back by how quickly I said 2D because I've been thinking about it. I pitched this project 11 years ago at Disney so I've been thinking about it a lot.

I can't even imagine going for "Hellboy" 11 years ago at Disney. I doubt they would go for a film with the word "Hell" in the title.

TS: That's the trick. This is when Dean Valentine was at Disney (he later went to UPN), he just wanted to shake things up and try different things. He said pitch anything you want for primetime. And this is what I pitched. He said, right or wrong, this is a narrow niche that you have. I like this stuff, but I was pitching a half-hour show and he said the network didn't have anything to hook it up with. There are things they liked about it a lot, but they were looking for another "Simpsons," as everyone who works in primetime looks for. If you have a half-hour fantasy horror show, what do you link it up with? "Who's the Boss?" You need to think of programming.

So what are the future plans for the "Hellboy" DVD series?

TS: The main future plan is that as long as enough people watch and buy the DVDs, IDT has seven years of rights and the best plan for them is a series of movies. Unless you have a hit live-action series, selling a series is a trick sell. They were saying for them a series of movies is better. I started off thinking of building a TV series, but I moved it for many reasons. A movie, even if limited by budget and time, you can still finesse it to get it to tell the story you want to tell.

In a TV series, you really can't justify beautiful storyboards. You can't do it over. Time and schedule is king. It needs to go through. And Mike Mignola's involvement would be much less. With a movie, we work out the story together. We go over the outline, he'll read the script, and any character that he originally created, and I make sure he sees the design. In a series, unless he wants to give up everything he's doing, which is a lot, there is not way he can be involved other then in the premise. I'd have to say, "Here are a few ideas," and we can go over it, but it can't take over his life.

How long have you had your blog going?

TS: Since November of last year. My frustration of the blog is that they don't want certain images out. I had to wait to Comic-Con. For the last month part of what I've been doing in okaying sculptures, and paint jobs and things like that, and now that are all in display cases downstairs and I can tell people about it. The blog was a chance to show people behind the scenes. I got the best reactions for the mundane things like storyboards. And it's a different inside take. I couldn't do a daily blog because of the gap in time.

Any other comics you wish to give a movie makeover to?

TS: Naw. The next step would be doing my own character. There's a character I've done that's a young girl protagonist that's a lot of fun. Doing my own comic is the next stage. I've made a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot money for Disney and other places. I did the Disney homevideo "The Return of Jafar." I pitched the homevideo to keep our budget up on the TV series and it went out and did fantastic. It started a whole new area of business for them.

Look at what Mike has done. He created a character that is so much a part of him. I have a taste for that now. I'd like to step out on my own. People are asking me to do comic stories and I get to enter that as a little bit of a professional. Should I go into a character, I wonder if it should debut as a script, or should it debut as a comic? That's the fun of seeing Comic-Con. When you see these characters come out of independent comics, some games suddenly having a comic or a new movie. It really is the pop culture convention. The world comes here to see some bizarre stuff. "Hellboy" was my dream project. Now it's time to make my own dream. And then get some sucker to animate it for me.

CCI:IFF winners

The awards were given out this morning for the Comic-Con Intl. Independent Film Festival, for which I was a judge. Here's who won in the various categories, followed by a few comments from me (and me only):

Action/Adventure: Der Ostwind, written and directed by Kohl Glass. This is a sort of animated adventure about a biplane pilot in WWI that really stands out for striking visuals that show the creative potential of digital animation tools in the hands of small filmmakers. 

Animation: Gorgonas, directed by Salvador Sanz. This was an Argentine film that tells a striking story that combines the myth of the gorgons with American Idol. Beautifully animated ina detailed, anime-influenced style, this was impossible to take your eyes off of.

Comics-oriented: Zombie Prom, directed by Vince Marcello. Imagine Grease as it might have appeared in the pages of EC Comics and you'll have some idea of what this hugely entertaining and extremely well produced film is like.

Humor/Parody: The Vinyl Battle, directed by Owen Hammer. This may be one of the strangest ideas ever -- that there are people living in the grooves of records who flee every time the needle comes along -- but it's also just too funny. With the changes in music and culture reflected by the DJ who plays the records and his sidekick, played by Patton Oswalt, this is inventive as well as funny.

Horror/Suspense: Post Mortem, directed by Jennifer Soemantri. There's probably more zombies per film in this festival than in every other festival in the world (unless there's a zombie film fest somewhere that I don't know about). But this is a film that works great as horror because it effectively exploits the fears of zombies and maintains tension that really pays off.

Science Fiction/Fantasy: Outside, directed by Jenn Kao. This was one of my favorites, and I'm glad it won and I'm glad Jenn Kao was on hand for me to convey my admiration for this film in person. This is like one of those great high-concept sci-fi films of the 1970s, about a woman who lives in an isolated, controlled environment until a face appears in her lone window on the world.

Documentary: Drakmar, directed by Lowell Frank and Destin Cretton. Nothing tugged at my heart as much as this film about a young boy involved in medieval recreations who makes a connection with his long-absent father.   

Judges' Choice: Zombie Prom, directed by Vince Marcello. This was, to my surprise, the only film that got the top rating from all three judges -- and deservedly so.

Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who submitted a film. The entries were overall of very good quality, both technically and creatively. Each film also showed a real passion for filmmaking that was refreshing and exciting.

Thanks to Gary Sassaman, the programming director of Comic-Con and the film festival, as well as the sponsors -- IFC, Variety and Write Brothers software -- and my fellow judges, Chris Gore of Film Threat.com and Amber Benson, actress and filmmaker best known for her role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

On a final note, while it was great to see that the times I stuck my head into the screening room that there were a fair number of people paying attention, these films deserve a wider audience. I would hope that some one -- IFC, are you listening? -- could show at least the winners on cable or put out a best of fest DVD. This is good work and it should be seen.

Hellboy and back

"Hellboy: Sword of Storms" made its bow to Comic-Con auds with a seven-minute clip that included finished reels, raw animatic scenes and rough cuts. On hand to talk about Big Red and his right hand of doom was "Hellboy" feature film helmer and toon producer Guillermo Del Toro, writer/director/producer Tad Stones, "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola, screenplay writer Matt Wayne and character designer Sean "Cheeks" Galloway.

"Guillermo has pushed for this since the 'Hellboy' movie. He pushed and pushed and pushed and kept the idea alive," said Stones.

"I knew Mike wanted to do a Hellboy animated series since way back when. He pitched it to Disney. Man, I would have liked to have been in that room," said Mignola.

"Lucky for us, there are Hellboy fans in high levels fields of animation," continued Mignola.

The style of the cartoon, while sleek and modern, doesn't exactly capture the classic pamcake-eater Mignola originally created.

"Guillermo always assumed that the cartoon would be in the style of Mike's artwork. I always assumed it would be in the style of Mike's artwork," said Stones. "It turned out that part of the production deal is that each new incarnation of 'Hellboy' would have a new look. It makes sense from a licensing point of view, I guess."

"Also, Mike's style is extremely well crafted on the page, but it needs to be more flexible for the animation," explained Del Toro.

Because of the need for a new look, Mignola began to explore young animators on the Web. In his eyes, Sean "Cheeks" Galloway pushed the characters the most in terms of style while maintaining the original concept set by Mignola.

"I thought his email was a spam. I was going to delete it. But then I opened it and realized it was a legitimate offer," Galloway admits. "After that, I would sit in Border's for hours and study Mike's style."

"That was because he was too cheap to buy the book," quips Mignola.

The creative team all understand that while the look of "Hellboy" might change, it is essential that the character of remains the true to form.

"He is a blue collar every day guy. That's why people like him," says Stones.

"Keeping the spirit of the character is important. He is like a plumber. You tell him there is a leak and he says 'Where is the leak?' He's just not excited about it," comments Del Toro.

The character is key to the Hellboy fanbase. One issue with the creators is that because Hellboy has humor, studio execs were constantly trying to change him to make him more marketable.

"It's good we had Ron (Perlman), because he could say, 'Hellboy' wouldn't say that," said Mignola. "But I was the only one who could tell Ron, 'Yes, he would.'"

And as for "Hellboy 2"?

"If I had $80.5 million, I would put $80.1 million into this fucking movie. I would love to make the second one happen," exclaimed Del Toro. "But Revolution collapsed and they now only produce a few films. It's been hard to find Hellboy a new home."

"I hope it gets made," continues the helmer. "Everyday I get reports from the trenches."

Coming soon: Part two -- Interview with Tad Stones

Con Meltdown

The massive crowds on Saturday prompted the convention organizers to stop selling badges online and on site for a short period to control the crowds. In an interview with con spokesman David Glanzer, CBR reports that the fire marshal was concerned the building would reach capacity. Glanzer says the show did not hit that level and the ticket hiatus was effective in keeping the crowd within the limits set by the fire marshal. Glanzer told CBR that they continued to honor pre-registered badge sales and they have no idea how many people may have been turned away. Sunday is expected to be back to normal.

Swept Away by the Crowd

One of the newer developments as Comic-Con has grown (most people are guessing attendance this year will be up to about 125,000) is that there's just no way you can take it all in. You certainly have to pick your battles and plan ahead.
What that means is that a number of panels I wanted to check out today ended up falling by the wayside simply because the crowds were too great and the lines too long to easily get in, cover what happens, and bolt out to the next thing. This was the case with the Lost panel, the Marvel Studios panel and as I write this, a huge line snakes around the Hall H end of the convention center outside my hotel window. I'm assuming it's for the Sony/Spider-Man 3 presentation happening now in Hall H. Though with the panel set to end at 6:30, I"d think most of those in line outside would recognize they're not getting in and give up. Of course, the Masquerade also is tonight in Ballroom 20, which may be a separate line or could be this line. At this point, I don't know.

What I did catch today was Cup o' Joe, with Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada. Joe's got a nice rapport with Marvel fans, most of whom were very excited about and happy with Civil War. Quesada announced a few interesting projects, including a Stan Lee's 65th Anniversary miniseries, in which Lee will write stories of himself meeting his many creations. Stan also will be working on a project for next year called Fantastic Four: The Lost Issue, which is reconstructing the original plot and art for Jack Kirby's last issue of FF, #102. Stan will script the issue, which will be inked and colored and published next April.
Our pal Jeff Goldsmith of Creative Screenwriting magazine put on a great panel on Adapting Comics to the Screen, which included Josh Olson (A History of Violence), Brian Nelson (30 Days of Night), Gregory Noveck (DC Comics' VP of creative affairs and Hollywood creative liaison), Richard Kelly (Southland Tales) and Simon Kinberg (X-Men: The Last Stand). In that panel, Noveck made official the announcement of a new line of direct-to-DVD animated features aimed at fans. These titles will adapt classic tales such as Superman: Doomsday, The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, and DC: The New Frontier. These pics will conform to the original stories and the comics artists' styles of drawing. The stories will be accurate adaptations and not "dumbed down" to be suitable for kids or appeal to a mainstream audience.
Tomorrow should be more sane, especially as the programming thins out. That should give us more of a chance to walk the floor and maybe possibly even do some shopping for some comic books.

Eisner Awards Winners

The Will Eisner Comic Book Industry Awards were presented last night at Comic-Con. With no further delay, here's who won:

Best Short Story: “Teenage Sidekick,” by Paul Pope, in Solo #3 (DC)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot): Solo #5, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)

Best Serialized Story: Fables #36-38, 40-41: “Return to the Homelands,” by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha (Vertigo/DC)




Best Continuing Series: Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday (Marvel)

Best Limited Series: Seven Soldiers, by Grant Morrison and various artists (DC)




Best New Series: All Star Superman, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)




Best Publication for a Younger Audience: Owly: Flying Lessons, by Andy Runton (Top Shelf)




Best Anthology: Solo, edited by Mark Chiarello (DC)




Best Digital Comic: PVP, by Scott Kurtz www.pvponline.com

Best Reality-Based Work: Nat Turner, by Kyle Baker (Kyle Baker Publishing)




Best Graphic Album—New: Top Ten: The Forty-Niners, by Alan Moore and Gene Ha (ABC)




Best Graphic Album—Reprint: Black Hole, by Charles Burns (Pantheon)




Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Strips: The Complete Calvin & Hobbes, by Bill Watterson (Andrews McMeel)




Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: Absolute Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (DC)




Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material: Ordinary Victories, by Manu Larcenet (NBM)




Best Writer: Alan Moore, Promethea, Top Ten: The Forty-Niners (ABC)




Best Writer/Artist: Geof Darrow, Shaolin Cowboy (Burlyman)




Best Writer/Artist—Humor: Kyle Baker, Plastic Man (DC); The Bakers (Kyle Baker Publishing)




Best Penciller/Inker: John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art): Ladronn, Hip Flask: Mystery City (Active Images)




Best Cover Artist: James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); Runaways (Marvel)




Best Coloring: Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #16 (ACME Novelty)

Best Lettering: Todd Klein, Wonder Woman, Justice, Seven Soldiers #0 (DC); Desolation Jones (WildStorm/DC); Promethea, Top Ten: The Forty-Niners, Tomorrow Stories Special (ABC); Fables (Vertigo); 1602: New World (Marvel)




Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition: Aaron Renier (Spiral-Bound)

Best Comics-Related Periodical: Comic Book Artist, edited by Jon Cooke (Top Shelf)




Best Comics-Related Book: Eisner/Miller, interviews conducted by Charles Brownstein (Dark Horse Books)




Best Publication Design (Tie): Acme Novelty Library Annual Report to Shareholders, designed by Chris Ware (Pantheon); Little Nemo in Slumberland, designed by Philippe Ghuilemetti (Sunday Press Books)




Hall of Fame


Judges’ Choices: Floyd Gottfredson, William Moulton Marston Voters’ choices: Vaughn Bode, Ramona Fradon, Russ Manning, Jim Steranko

Gotham, DH, Variety party

Yesterday saw a small satellite of Hollywood form in San Diego for the Gotham Group's annual luncheon, this year celebrating the 20th anniversary of Dark Horse and co-presented by Variety. The event drew a strong crowd of comics, film and animation people who ate Thai food and enjoyed a few drinks amid a crowd of their peers instead of the crowd of fans on the con floor. Thanks go to Maggie Begley, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Mike Richardson. Here's a peek at what things looked like:

Blog Blog Blog

Yesterday's blogging panel went extremely well, and very fast for those of us sitting on the panel. The panel mostly focused on what constitutes news in the comics blogosphere and how do you stand out. For a quickl look, the panelists above are, from right to left, Heidi MacDonald of Publisher's Weekly's The Beat; Tom McLean, writer of the blog you're reading right now; Ron Hogan of Mediabistro's GalleyCat; Chris Butcher of comics.212.net; Graeme McMillan of Blog@Newsarama; and better late than never Tom Spurgeon of the Comics Reporter.

Friday in a flash, Part 1: WB

Friday was an extremely busy day at Comic-Con, kicking off with a WB panel plugging upcoming horror pic "The Reaping," starring Hilary Swank as a miracle debunker who faces biblical signs of the world's end in Louisiana. Neil Labute was onhand to show the first scene of his reimagining of "The Wicker Man," starring Nic Cage. Labute says his version will make significant changes from the cult-classic original. For example, there will be a lot less singing and the culture of the remote island will be a matriarchy instead of a patriarchy.
Bryan Singer was next, answering questions from appreciative fans and saying that a deal is pending for him to direct a sequel to "Superman Returns" to be released in 2009. "The next one kind of enables me to get all Wrath of Khan on it," he says. Singer talked about some deleted scenes that may end up on the DVD, including a scene of Superman's return to Krypton that cost $10 million to shoot but ended up not making it into the film. Singer was joined on stage by original "Superman: The Movie" director Richard Donner to talk about the upcoming DVD release of Donner's cut of "Superman II." They teased fans with a great, lengthy scene in which Margot Kidder's Lois Lane figures out Clark is Superman and he goes to great lengths to dissuade her.
A long-standing rumor was made official when DC announced Donner would be working with writer Geoff Johns and artist Adam Kubert on Action Comics, starting in the fall.

Must-See in SD - Sunday

Sunday is always a little more relaxed but there's still some worthy panels for entertainment pros before heading home for another year.

11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. CCI:IFF 2006 Awards — It’s the big event, as Comic-Con gives out the CCI: IFF awards. This year, there are seven major category awards along with the coveted “Judges’ Choice” award for the best film in the festival. Join judges Tom McLean and Chris Gore and Comic-Con’s director of programming Gary Sassaman, as the best films in the festival are given their due! Click here for more details on CCI:IFF. Room 26AB

1-2:30 p.m. Cartoon Voices II— So nice, we decided to do it twice! A mainstay of Comic-Con’s Saturday programming slate, here’s an all-new Sunday edition of Cartoon Voices, hosted, as always, by Mark Evanier. Mark is joined by vocal impressarios Billy West (Futurama), April Stewart (South Park), Bob Bergen (Porky Pig), Kimberly Brooks (Mucha Lucha), and Wally Wingert (Family Guy). Room 6CDEF

3:30-4:30 p.m. Breaking into Sci-fi Writing— In a relaxed writing workshop format, veteran and rising star science fiction authors tell you their secrets on how to kick in the door of the publishing industry. Panelists include Elisa Kassin (co-editor, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) and Dayton Ward (Vanguard: Summon the Thunder), Paul Tseng, Cathy Pike, Frederick Kim, Geoff Thorne, andDavid Schibi. Moderated by Dr. Joseph D. Di Lella (author of Tao of Trek, Eastern New Mexico University). Room 1B

Late-night roundup

The first round of Comic-Con parties, both formal and informal, are winding down with some interesting tidbits coming out during a few of them.

Our own Alex Romanelli reports on the Hasbro/Marvel party, "Pan's Labyrinth" panel, in which actor Doug Jones says he won't be doing motion capture for the Silver Surfer in the "Fantastic Four" sequel, but still goes a long way toward implying he will be announced as playing the role.

Marvel's Iron Man already has some competiton, with Sony and MGM scheduling the next James Bond pic and the first starring Daniel Craig as 007 for May 2, 2008 -- same date Marvel had staked out for its "Iron Man" pic. It's likely this far out that something will move.

And Dan Clowes, creators of Ghost World and screenwriter of Art School Confidential, will turn his "Death Ray" story from Eightball into a screenplay. The film is being developed by Jack Black's production company and Black is expected to take a small role in the film. No director has been attached.

Hulk 2 gets a helmer

Marvel has announced Louis Leterrier will direct the upcoming "Hulk 2" feature film from a script by Zak Penn ("X-Men: The Last Stand"). Leterrier directed "The Transporter" and "The Transporter 2." Casting is set to begin immediately and Leterrier will be introduced at the Marvel Studios panel Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Comic-Con: Intl.

The Deepak and Grant Show

In one of the more interesting and entertaining meetings of the minds, best-selling author, physician and spiritualist Deepak Chopra too to the stage with comics writer Grant Morrison to talk about the spiritual nature of superheroes.
"Everything I have been trying to say in my nonfiction and in my fiction has been so beautifully expressed in the work of Grant Morrison," said Chopra. The event was hosted by Chopra's son, Gotham Chopra, who is the CCF and editor in chief of the new Virgin Comics. The elder Chopra has contributed to the line, co-creating the company's upcoming "Ramayan Reborn" series.
Morrison was a kindred spirit, and has long talked about comics as a powerful spiritual tool, putting his theories to the test in creator-owned series such as The Invisibles and in mainstream superheroes such as his current work on All-Star Superman and Batman.
Both talked about the mythical qualities of the superhero and how superheroes are symbols of achievment of human potential. Chopra even compared the qualities of the superhero to the seven chakras.
Morrison is at this point doing no work for Virgin Comics -- he is under contract with DC -- through Chopra and Morrison expressed interest in doing something in another medium besides comics.

DC Stamps Issued

Comic-Con kicked off Thursday with a rather official panel in which officials from the U.S. Postal Service, the City of San Diego, Comic-Con and DC Comics officially unveiled the new set of stamps honoring the DC superheroes.
The stamp set can be seen at right and includes character shots of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Flash, Plastic Man, Aquaman, Supergirl and Hawkman, as well as a number of classic comicbook covers. DC president and publisher Paul Levitz said the stamps honor the many artists and creators who worked on those characters. Attending the ceremony were Neal Adams; Joe Giella; Carmine Infantino; Bob Kane's wife, Elizabeth Kane; Jack Kirby's granddaughter, Lisa Kirby; Adam Kubert, representing his father, Joe Kubert; Jim Lee; Edgar May, representing the family of Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston; Sheldon Moldoff; George Perez; Mike Royer; and Scott Williams.

Pics and Notes

Pics from the floor:

Also, our former Bags and Boards colleague Jevon Phillips is blogging from the con for the L.A. Times and his stuff is worth a look.

Must-See in SD - Saturday

Just like Saturday morning is prime-time cartoon viewing, Saturday at Comic-Con offer a lot for animation pros. Even animation pros should consider the Adapting Comics to the Screen panel, run by our pal Jeff Goldsmith, who always runs a great panel.

10:30 a.m.-noon WGA Animation Writers Caucus: Something Funny This Way Comes — Once again, the WGA Animation Writers Caucus sponsors a panel on the ins and outs of crafting material for animation. This year, some of the top writers in the field discuss the craft of writing comedy. What's the difference between writing it for animation and for live action? How does comedy writing differ from writing drama and action? With the animation being done all over the world, frequently by people who don't speak English, are there problems with language, timing, and culturally different senses of humor? Panelists include Mike Reiss (The Simpsons), Patric Verrone (Futurama), and moderator Gordon Bressack (Pinky & The Brain). Room 4

Noon-1 p.m. State of the Animation Industry — Top leaders in the field of animation discuss the current state of the animation industry and give insights in to the future of the field. Panelists include Jorgen Klubien, co-creator/writer Pixar's Cars; Kevin Koch, president of the Animation Guild; Dan Lund, director, Dream on Silly Dreamer; Sarah Baisley, editor, Animation World Network; Aki Umemoto, Mattel/Base Station; Jason Plapp, T.D., The Simpsons Movie; Angelo di Nallo, co-creator Bradwurst Nickelodeon; Eric Goldberg, director, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Fantasia/2000; and moderator Larry Loc, ASIFA-Hollywood board of directors. Room 4

1:30-2:30 p.m. Pitching An Animated Show — How do you get your cartoon on the air? Selling an animated series isn’t as easy as it seems. The process is as creative as it is frustrating—and equal parts unpredictable. The major networks get thousands of pitches every year, so is there a secret recipe to getting your idea on the top of the pile? Maybe, and these are the people to tell you: the executives responsible for shepherding new shows at the major studios, including Eric Coleman, VP animation, development & production at Nickelodeon; Heather Kenyon, senior director of development original animation for Cartoon Network; Mike Moon, vice president, animated series at The Disney Channel; Halle Stanford, head of children’s programming for The Jim Henson Company; and creators Jorge R. Gutierrez (Nickelodeon’s upcoming 2007 series El Tigre) and Gabe Swarr (Big Pants Mouse), both industry veterans currently in development on several projects. This will be an hour chock-full of wisdom, woes, and even a few “you-saw-it-here-first” surprises, moderated by animation writer/creator Jon M. Gibson, also in development. Room 5AB

1:30-2:30 p.m. The Art of Adapting Comics to the Screen — The cinematic renaissance of comic-book-based films continues, and here's your chance to learn what it takes to adapt these dream projects to the screen. Bring your questions and join Creative Screenwriting magazine's senior editor Jeff Goldsmith as he chats with the fantastic panel featuring Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko), Simon Kinberg (X-Men 3), Brian Nelson (30 Days of Night), Gregory Noveck (senior VP of creative affairs, DC Comics), and Josh Olson (A History of Violence). Room 6A

5:30-7 p.m. Animation Story Meeting — Travel to a dark place, seldom seen by outsiders: an animation story meeting. See and hear how an idea for an animated superhero story goes from one-sentence premise all the way to full-blown, beginning-middle-and-end story (with hardly any blood being spilled). The all-star writing staff for this event will consist of Adam Beechen (Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi), Craig Miller (Pocket Dragons), Robert Skir (Godzilla), comics giant Len Wein, and Amy Wolfram (Teen Titans). Moderated by Stan Berkowitz (Justice League). Audience participation will be welcome—especially if the team encounters mass writers' block. Room 24A

Must-See in SD - Friday

In addition to the can't-miss blogging panel, these are the best industry-centric panels for Friday. Alas, they tend to be bunched up later in the day, which leaves time in the afternoon to grab lunch and check out the floor before the tough decisions have to be made.

10:30-11:30 a.m. Nickelodeon's New Shorts: Fresh Content and Funky-Fresh Creators — Talented, up-and-coming creators from Nickelodeon's animated shorts program will discuss their shorts, show a sneak peek, and take questions from the audience. You’ll hear from Luke Brookshier, storyboard artist on SpongeBob SquarePants; Debbie Cone, assistant director on Family Guy; Su Moon, character designer from My Life as a Teenage Robot; Scott Sava, CG-animator and comic book author; and Amy Winfrey, creator of the cult web series Making Fiends. Moderated by Peter Gal, director of development, Nickelodeon Animation. Room 2

4-5 p.m. BET Animation — Panelists Reggie Hudlin (president, BET), Denys Cowan (senior VP, BET Animation), and Sidney Clifton (executive VP, Film Roman) share their big vision of what is to come from BET’s new animation division. Moderated by Michael Davis. Room 6A

4-5 p.m. Bruce Timm Retrospective/Legion of Super Heroes— Warner Bros. Animation president Sander Schwartz introduces a retrospective on the creativity of animation legend Bruce Timm (Batman Beyond, Superman: The Animated Series). Bruce will talk about his 20-year career, screen selected scenes from his body of work, and take part in a Q&A. Immediately following the Timm retrospective, Warner Bros. Animation presents a sneak peek at Legion of Super Heroes, a new Superman-themed half-hour adventure series inspired by the DC Comics series and set to air Saturdays this fall at 11:00 AM ET/PT in the Kids’ WB! programming block on the new CW. Producers Linda M. Steiner (Teen Titans) and James Tucker (Justice League Unlimited), story editor Rob Hoegee (Teen Titans), and others from the show’s creative team will join several of the Legion cast members, including Yuri Lowenthal (voice of Superman), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Shawn Harrison (Timber Wolf), and Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy) for a Q&A session and debut of scenes from the upcoming show. Room 20

4:30-6 p.m. The Costume Designers Guild: Costume Centric Session 2 — The Costume Designers Guild continues its three-part series on costume design and its profound influence on world culture. Today’s event, the “Motion Picture Panel,” features costume designers Michael Wilkinson (Frank Miller’s 300), Frank Helmer (DOA: Dead or Alive), and Kristin Burke (The Grudge 2). Moderated by veteran costume designer Dorothy Amos. Room 2

6-7 p.m. Pitchin’ Impossible? A Useful Panel About Entering Hollywood — Jermaine Turner and Tracy McAndrew of ABC Family, Dan Evans (freelance development agent), and Jeremy Love (VP, Gettosake Entertainment) will take an idea from conception through various necessary and possible steps to production. This process will include creating a pitch document, obtaining agents, and getting a pitch meeting. The panelists will explain, through hypothetical example and some humorous stories, the process that new creators should adapt to make their way into the Hollywood creative battleground. Knowing that each project is a new path, there will be a Q&A to allow the audience to really hone in on the solutions to obstacles they may encounter. And there may even be a really special guest or two! Room 5AB

First Look

It's a cool Thursday morning in San Diego, and there's already a trickle of fans heading to the convention center to stand in line for registration, even though the convention itself doesn't open for another 90 minutes.

Preview Night was, to put it kindly, well attended. Crowded would be the other way to say it. Registration seemed to go smoothly yesterday, so for the moment all is well in Comic-Con land. It's hard to say if more people are attending the entire con, including preview night, or if the crowds last night are indicative of the increase in con attendance. If it's the latter, just walking the hall is going to be tough, especially on Saturday, traditionally the busiest day of the year.

The usual assortment of booths are back this year, though the overall look of the show seems to have improved. This year's events guide has a color cover printed on slicker stock than the newsprint inside, which is a nice switch as it will help keep hands ink-free -- an important thing when shaking hands and dealing with con crud.

One newcomer is Fox Atomic, the new genre arm of the studio that also is launching a graphic novel line through a partnership with HarperCollins. The company also is holding auditions at its booth for roles in the new "Revenge of the Nerds" movie, with winners of the contest posted at the booth on Sunday afternoon.

DC hits a double: Doom Patrol, Deadman

Two of DC's edgier comicbook properties from the 1960s are coming to the big screen: Doom Patrol and Deadman.
Doom Patrol will be produced by Akiva Goldsman and Adam Turner has been tapped to pen the screenplay. Doom Patrol, a series about a group of misfit heroes assembled by a wheelchair-bound genius, has long been compared to X-Men. Like X-Men, Doom Patrol struggled to find an audience in the 1960s and was canceled. Revivals have been short-lived, with a lengthy and bizarre take by Grant Morrison in the late 1980s and early 1990s being the most distinctive. A recent revival by John Byrne lasted 18 issues and ended last year.
Deadman is being produced by Guillermo del Toro, who directed the comicbook pics Hellboy and Blade II. Angryfilms' Don Murphy and Susan Montford also will produce; a search is on for a screenwriter. Deadman was one of the stranger DC concepts of the 1960s, telling the story of circus performer Boston Brand who dies in the middle of an act and finds himself with the power to posses the living to search for his murderer. The book was early showcase for the art of Neal Adams.
These announcements should give a boost to DC's Hollywood efforts as Comic-Con opens. It's also a sign that Hollywood is prepared to tap into the DC library a little more deeply than in the past, when only the top superheroes such as Superman and Batman had any success in making it to the screen.

Must-See in SD - Thursday

The schedule for Comic-Con seems a lot more diverse this year, perhaps because the film release schedule is a bit slight on the number of big movies in range for a big sneak peek. So if you’re a professional in the film, TV or animation business looking to maximize your time at Comic-Con, Bags and Boards presents a look at the five can’t-miss panels you have to attend each day, with descriptions from the full schedule available at Comic-Con.org.

Thursday

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Movie Animation and Cinematography: Tony Hawk in Boom Boom Sabotage — It’s the new CG animated movie, Tony Hawk in Boom Boom Sabotage, devoted to all things skateboarding! Panelists will show exclusive footage from the motion capture skateboard shoots, skateboard data, animation process, and the final movie product. They will also demonstrate how the skaters influenced all aspects of the movie. Panelists include Gil Rimmer, artist; Mike Mckinlay, mocap skate director, CG skateboard cinematographer, and in-house pro-skater/consultant; Logan McPherson, animation director, skateboarding; and Ben Burden Smith, producer/writer. Room 1A

2:30-3:30 p.m. Random! Cartoons and Tomorrow’s Hit-makers — Many of today’s biggest hit-makers in cartoons, including Butch Hartman, Craig McCracken, and Genndy Tartakovsky, made their first professional films for Frederator Studios and its shorts programs. Nickelodeon will debut Frederator’s newest anthology series of 39 films, Random! Cartoons, this winter. Here’s your chance to meet the cartoon hitmakers of tomorrow and find out how they sold their creations to Frederator and Nickelodeon. Creators attending will be Kyle Carrozza (Moobeard the Cow Pirate), Eric Robles (Fanboy), Anne Walker (Mind the Kitty), and Pen Ward (Adventure Time), with a panel moderated by cartoon historian (and creator of his own Random! cartoon), Jerry Beck (Hornswiggle). Cartoons and works-in-progress will be screened. Room 2

4:30-6:00 p.m. The Costume Designers Guild: Costume Centric, Session 1 — For the first time in Comic-Con history, the Costume Designers Guild will present a three-part panel series on costume design and its profound influence on world culture. This first event will focus on costume design for television and includes designers Robert Blackman (Star Trek: Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager), Kathryn Morrison (Lost), Laura Goldsmith (Alias), Jill Ohanneson (Six Feet Under, Foxfire), and Caroline Cranston (Smallville). Here's a rare opportunity to hear from costume designers and see sketches, fabrics, costumes and film clips from some the most influential productions of the last five years. Moderated by veteran costume designer Dorothy Amos. Room 2

6:00-7:00 p.m. Scoring For Superheroes — Join award-winning composers Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis (Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited) for a rare behind-the-scenes look at music scoring for animation. This panel, moderated by journalist Jon Burlingame (Variety), will feature video clips, audio clips, and insider info about their upcoming projects. They will be joined by special guest Glen Murakami (Teen Titans), who will discuss their music for the Teen Titans series and upcoming DVD Teen Titans: Trouble In Tokyo. Q&A following! Find out more at www.dynamicmusicpartners.com. Room 6A

7:00-8:30 p.m. ASIFA Presents: Dream on Silly Dreamer — On March 25, 2002, Disney Feature Animation announced the death of 2D animation by closing all of its 2D feature animation units. Dan Lund was there with his camera. View his award-winning documentary, followed by a panel of Disney animators with 120 years of combined experience in the field of animation. Panelists include Dan Lund, director Dream on Silly Dreamer and effects animator, The Emperor's New Groove ;Tony West, producer, Dream on Silly Dreamer, effects animator, Lilo & Stitch; Dorse Lanpher, effects animator, Beauty and the Beast; John Tucker, effects animator, The Lion King; Mauro Maressa, animation supervisor, Alien, effects animator Fantasia/2000; Kris Heller, clean-up Mulan, breakdown artist, Aladdin; and Jacki Sanchez, in-betweener, The Prince and the Pauper. Moderated by Larry Loc, ASIFA-Hollywood board of directors. Room 6B

Counting down

The announcements and plans are coming fast and furious for Comic-Con Intl. Here’s a sampling of what’s going on in the final hours before the show:

* Karen Berger has been promoted to senior VP and executive editor of Vertigo at DC Comics. Berger started at DC in 1979 and developed such titles as Sandman and Hellblazer that evolved into the Vertigo line, established in 1993. Vertigo continues to publish comicbook series for adults and creator-owned visions including Y: The Last Man, 100 Bullets and Fables, as well as original graphic novels including Harvey Pekar and Dean Haspiel’s The Quitter, Darren Aronofsky and Kent Williams’ The Fountain, and the upcoming Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichson.

* Catch the full pilot for Mike Mignola's The Amazing Screw-On Head now at the Sci Fi Channel's website before it airs on the cabler on July 27 as part of a comicbook block featuring Stan Lee's Who Wants to Be a Superhero? The animated pilot features voices by Paul Giamatti, David Hyde Pierce and Molly Shannon and is based on the one-shot comic by Hellboy creator Mignola and published by Dark Horse.

* In other Sci Fi Channel news, the cabler has ordered 22 live-action episodes of Painkiller Jane, based on the Event Comics series created by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti. A two-hour movie/pilot aired last December on the channel.

* Universal has optioned Boom! Studios' horror comicbook Tag!, by Keith Giffen and Kody Chamberlain.

* George Gladir and Stan Goldberg will be unveiling a creator-owned book titled Cindy and Obesan. Both men are veterans of Archie Comics, Gladir having created Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Goldberg as one of the line’s defining artists.

* Limited-edition lithographs of a scene from the animated musicvideo to heavy metal rockers Disturbed's cover of the classic Genesis song “Land of Confusion” will be given away at the Todd McFarlane Productions booth. The video, which can be seen here, was produced and directed in HD by McFarlane.

* Wannabe comics creators can check out the Impact Books booth for signings, contests and portfolio reviews related to the Impact University panel. The panel, set for Friday from 10:30 to noon in Room 8, features tips on breaking in from Peter David, writer of X-Factor and Fallen Angel; Marv Wolfman, co-creator of the New Titans and author of the Superman Returns novelization; Matt Haley, artist on the Superman Returns comicbook; Jim Salicrup, former Marvel editor now with Papercutz; John Jackson Miller, writer of Iron Man and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic; and Maggie Thompson, editor of the Comics Buyers Guide.

En Route

Today is a travel day for Bags and Boards as we head down to Comic-Con. In the meantime, head over to Variety.com to read the Comic-Con special report and tribute to Sam Raimi that appears in today's edition. If you're heading down to the show, look for a hard copy of the issue in the lobby.

Miller to direct "The Spirit"

Frank Miller is going to write and direct a film version of Will Eisner's "The Spirit" for Odd Lot Entertainment and Batfilms.
Miller's involvement is set to be announced at Comic-Con on Saturday and should be greeted with euphoric enthusiasm from comics fans.
Miller, who co-directed "Sin City" with Robert Rodriguez, is in many ways an obvious choice for the job. Miller became friends with Eisner before the latter's death early last year. A book of their conversations about the art of making comics was published last year by Dark Horse. Eisner's work on The Spirit greatly influenced Miller's own work as far back as his stint on Daredevil in the late 1970s and early 1980s, for which Miller used many of the storytelling techniques Eisner used on The Spirit. He also borrowed heavily from the 1950 Spirit story "Sand Seref" in creating Elektra.
Miller's not the first comic book pro to tackle the job. Jeph Loeb had previously been attached to the film as a screenwriter.

Elephantmen #1

Creators: Richard Starkings, writer; Moritat, artist
Image Comics, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? Richard Starkings’ rep as a letterer is top notch, but books like this should help raise the profile of his publishing company, Active Images, to the same heights. Elephantmen is spun out of Hip Flask, a self-proclaimed “pulp science fiction” title about intelligent mutated animal-men that evokes the lush style and look of the best European graphic albums. The Hip Flask series is drawn by Ladronn, an artist who labors lovingly over every page – which has meant each issue in the series has taken more than a year to produce. First published in 2002, three of the planned five issues have been finished and seen print. That left Starkings with lots of ideas for the series and the result was a second, prequel series that will feature multiple stories from different artists and be published as a monthly through Image Comics. The first issue has two tales drawn by “Moritat,” the nom de plume of Justin Norman, that maintain the futuristic urban look of Hip Flask. The stories are more character oriented and a bit thin at times, but they should please both fans of the main series and stand on their own well enough to draw in some new readers. The latter should be aided by the top-notch art from Moritat and a stellar lineup of contributors on future issues such as Henry Flint, Duncan Rouleau, Tim Sale and Chris Bachalo. Grade: B+

Devi #1

Creators: Shekhar Kapur, creator; Siddarth Kotian, script; Mukesh Singh, artist
Virgin Comics, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? The first offering from Virgin Comics is an impressive read, with a look and story that effectively evokes a mythological tone. Created by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (director of the 1998 Oscar-nomed pic “Elizabeth” and 2002’s “The Four Feathers”) and based nominally on Indian mythology, the book also has tinges of the cool of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn and the scope of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy. The story begins with Bala, a god who centuries ago rebelled and sought to bend mankind to his will. To stop him, the rest of the pantheon of gods each give up part of their powers to create Devi, a woman who has the power to stop and imprison Bala. Cut to present day, where Bala has escaped and it seems clear that Devi will have to return to Earth to put a stop to him. The book is well-written and beautifully drawn and has real potential to be that rare indie hit in the U.S. comics market if the quality can be kept up. The production values on this book also are top-notch, with beautiful color and printing to create a nice package. Grade: A-

The Escapists #1

Creators: Brian K. Vaughan, writer; Philip Bond and Eduardo Barreto, artists
Dark Horse, 32 pages, color, $1
So? Comics rarely get more self-referential than when they feature stories about people making comicbooks. But this book about a young kid who finds his dead father had assembled the greatest collection of material based on the old Escapist comicbook and sets about making his own Escapist stories has some real heart. This chapter previously appeared in Dark Horse’s Escapist anthology, and will continue for another five issues. Vaughan writes a witty and fun script, but it’s Philip Bond who makes this pop off the page with style. Bond drew one of my single favorite comics ever – Kill Your Boyfriend, with writer Grant Morrison – and has lost none of his touch for humor, drama and creating characters you can’t help but like. This also is fun for the way it expands the universe of the Escapist, “created” by Kavalier & Clay in Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer-winning novel “The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” into non-superheroic areas. Throw in a front cover by Frank Miller, a back cover by Brian Bolland, a faux article about collecting Golden Age Escapist comics and a cover price of only a buck, and you just can’t go wrong with this. Grade: A

Brave New World #1

Creators: Tony Bedard, A.J. Lieberman, Bruce Jones, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, Steve Niles, Gail Simone and Judd Winick, writers; Ariel Olivetti, Al Barrionuevo & Bit, Renato Guedes, Daniel Acuna, Justiniano & Walden Wong, John Byrne & Trevor Scott and Howard Porter, artists
DC Comics, 80 pages, color, $1
So? The crisis has passed once again, and DC is looking to build upon the new status quo it has established with a variety of new miniseries that get the spotlight treatment in this big, cheap sampler book. The books previewed include new series for Martian Manhunter, OMAC, Shazam!, Atom, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters and The Creeper. Each series is pretty different and even with 10-page previews it’s a little tough to gauge the long-term potential of any of them. Uncle Sam benefits from stunning art from Daniel Acuna, but has a long way to go to sell a group of marginal characters. OMAC looked the most vibrant, with an interesting concept from Bruce Jones that could steer the concept back toward the original ideas of Jack Kirby while retaining the coolness of the recent series. The Creeper has potential as a DCU horror character and gets a creepy new non-Ditko look from Justiniano and writer Steve Niles. The new Shazam! series picks up directly on the events of Infinite Crisis and looks terrific, though potentially bogged down by continuity. That leaves Martian Manhunter, who’s never been successful as a solo character and gets a eight-issue miniseries to turn that around, and the Atom, which shows that Gail Simone is the go-to writer when it comes to coaxing good work from John Byrne. The Atom also suffers from a limited premise and some craggy inking. The composite effect of reading these stories is one of mild interest. Nothing screams out as a must have and none of the concepts is new or brave enough to set the comics market on fire. But for the DC die-hards, it’s a handy shopping aide for figuring out which of these series to plunk down their money for. Grade: B-