'Persepolis' carries comic pic torch at Oscars

This morning's Oscars noms were a bit of a downer when it came to comics-based pics. Only "Persepolis," nominated in the best animated feature category, made the list of final cuts.

So what are "Persepolis'" odds? It looks pretty grim with "Ratatouille" the runaway favorite, but as we saw last year when "Happy Feet" beat odds-on favorite "Cars," you never know. This could be the year that the old-fashioned, 2-D animation style used for 'Persepolis" charms the Academy into picking it over the massively successful and extremely well reviewed Pixar entry. But I wouldn't bet on it.

"300" seemed most likely to garner a few noms, having made the short lists in both makeup and visual effects. "Spidey 3" was a no-show, even in the sound editing and mixing categories that it always seems so well suited for. (We knew it had no shot at VFX, not making the short list and all.)

As for the rest, I'm surprised to see "Juno," do so well — I think Ellen Page for best actress and Diablo Cody for original screenplay were expected, but the film also got directing and best picture noms.

In all, this wasn't perhaps the best year for comics pics. While "300" was an all-around hit and "Persepolis" a critical darling, there was a definite backlash against "Spider-Man 3" and even though audiences may have enjoyed "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," "Ghost Rider" or "30 Days of Night," none of them is really Oscar material.

In the end, comics fans may want to get behind "Juno" and its trio of Marvel movie alumni. Just think of it as movie in which Kitty Pryde, whose father turns out to be J. Jonah Jameson, gives up her baby to Elektra, and all of a sudden you're talking mega Marvel crossover material.