By now, news of last week’s ruling that restores to the heirs of Jerry Siegel part of the copyright to Superman has spread far and wide. (Variety's report focuses on the Siegels' attorney, Marc Toboroff, and his antagonistic relationship with WB.)  It’s impossible to not want to comment on this case, given the stature of the Siegel and Shuster in comicbook history and the implications it may have for one of the most popular characters in the world.

I could prattle on about the fascinating details for pages, but will refrain as many others have already done so better than I could and apologize even so for the length of this post. I confess to having read the judge’s full ruling, available from Jeff Trexler’s comprehensive site, more than once and will probably go over it again. It also has sent me back to Gerard Jones’ excellent book, “Men of Tomorrow,” which recounts in detail the origins of DC Comics, Superman and the entire comicbook industry and is highly recommended.

The real issue is what does this mean for Superman? The copyright that was reclaimed by the Siegels was only to the Superman material in Action Comics #1. Which may not seem too significant given the thousands of issues published since, except that that story establishes a heck of a lot about Superman, including his origin as an alien child sent from a dying planet, that he wears tights and a cape, his alter-ego of Clark Kent, Clark’s employment as a newspaper reporter, his faux mild-mannered behavior as Clark, the odd love triangle with beautiful reporter Lois, and powers including invulnerability, super speed, super strength and the ability to leap long distances through the air. That’s a lot, but not all of what we’ve come to know as the Superman mythos. There’s no Jimmy Olsen, flight powers, Fortress of Solitude, Perry White, Kryptonite, Lex Luthor, Brainiac or General Zod. (The Superboy mythos, including Smallville, the Kents and Lana Lang is part of a separate case the Siegels have filed.)

In the short term, the ruling seems like it won’t have much of an impact even if it is upheld on the inevitable appeal. The real impact would likely be behind the scenes as attorneys try to assign dollar values to the elements each party can claim ownership to since the copyright reverted in 1999. This would result in a massive and long overdue payday for the Siegels, especially given this ruling has opened the door for making WB account for its earnings from the character in other media. That means the studio would be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars to the Siegels for “Superman Returns,” various animated projects like “Justice League: The New Frontier,” the upcoming “Justice League of America” movie and any sequels to “Superman Returns.”

But given this complex situation, it's hard to imagine the character being significantly altered or departing DC/WB for another studio or publisher. Extricating the Action #1 elements from the rest of the Superman mythos and one side proceeding without the other appears practically impossible for either party. And since I also can’t imagine the Siegels have the interest at this point in creative control over the character’s comics or movies, DC and WB likely will be free to continue to do what they’ve been doing, with the only difference being that they will have to pay for the privilege of using someone else’s character.

What’s been disappointing in all this is that WB could have easily done more to help the Siegels and the Shusters — and could have done so while Jerry and Joe were still alive — not to mention avoided this hugely expensive legal dispute. WB bought DC in the late 1960s and was therefore free of the long history between DC founder Harry Donenfeld and the artists. Would it have been so hard to share with Siegel and Shuster a meaningful portion of the billions — yes, billions — Superman has brought in for the company? Yes, WB did in 1975 restore their credit, provide medical insurance and pay a small annual stipend to Siegel and Shuster, but the amounts involved were less than a pittance for so large a company.

The few fans who have been railing on message boards against the ruling out of fear it might affect the comics they buy should be ashamed of themselves for excusing the greed of a corporation that has done everything in its power to avoid compensating in any meaningful financial way the Siegels and Shusters. That the copyright act under which the Siegels were able to reclaim their copyright — as well as all subsequent revisions to said laws — was written to protect large companies’ interests in long-standing copyrights is a welcome irony in an otherwise tragic tale.

What this means for other characters has yet to be seen, but it’s certainly not a doom and gloom situation. The circumstances of the creation of the Action Comics #1 tale separate it from those of most other classic superheroes — particularly the Marvel ones, which appear to have been mostly created under conditions that qualify under the law as work for hire and are generally exempt from this kind of legal action.

This ruling also should serve as a cautionary tale for both creators and publishers: for creators to protect their rights to avoid losing control of their stories and characters, and for publishers to remember to treat fairly the creative talents that make your success possible.

Creators: Brian K. Vaughan, writer; Eduardo Risso, artist
Marvel, 32 pages, color, $3.99; also available in a 24-page black-and-white edition for $3.99
So? Normally, a new Wolverine miniseries wouldn't elicit much interest from fans — but when it's written by Brian K. Vaughan, creator of "Y: The Last Man" and now writing for "Lost," and drawn by Eduardo Risso of "100 Bullets" fame, it's definitely worth a look. This comic, the first of three issues, was released in both a regular color edition and a black-and-white edition. If you only get one copy, get the black-and-white edition, which in a classy move excludes all the color ads and terrifically shows off Risso's astounding ink work. The story is as good a Wolverine story as Marvel has published in a long time. Set in Japan, Logan returns to the place where "he became a man" and flashes back to being a Japanese POW camp in World War II. His escape brings him into contact with an ethereal Japanese woman (he does have a tendency to fall for that type) and she protects him. This story doesn't reinvent the wheel, but the final page does present a plot twist that is sure to make the next two issues as cool to read and look at as this one is. Grade: A-

Creators: Paul Dini, head writer; Adam Beechen, writer; Keith Giffen, story consultant; Tom Derenick, Mike Norton, Jim Starlin, Wayne Faucher, Jimmy Palmiotti and Rodney Ramos, artists.
DC Comics, 32 pages, color, $2.99 each
So? "Countdown" has taken a beating from fans for not being as good as "52," and many of their complaints through this weekly series have been legitimate. But to be fair, "Countdown" has improved tremendously in its second half in general and as the plot has begun to builds toward its conclusion in the most recent issues. I won't bother to go into too much detail about the specifics of the plot, but a plague has been unleashed through the multiverse, with the Monitors, Darkseid and the OMACs all lining up against the heroes for a big final showdown. The art in particular has been strong on these past few issues, which has helped make this a more compelling read. How well this series will hold up, though, is still up in the air. It took a long time and a good many issues that felt unfocused to get to this point, and I have the disappointing sense that "Countdown's" plot will not be resolved in its own pages, but rather in upcoming mega-crossover "Final Crisis." It seems the lesson of "Countdown" is to make sure that future weekly efforts find a laser-precise focus early on and stick with it, or risk becoming merely an expensive bridge between the publishing events that drive the superhero end of comics these days. Grade: B-

Creators: Mark Millar, writer; John Romita Jr., artist
Icon/Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? Marvel's go-to guy Millar, writer of "Civil War," "The Ultimates" and now "Fantastic Four," goes out on his own to write the self-proclaimed "greatest superhero book of all time." Story is about Dave Lizewski, a nerdy young kid who decides to try to follow in real life the example of his favorite comicbook heroes and don a costume to fight crime. The results are equal parts hilarious and wince-inducing, helped tremendously by outstanding art by John Romita Jr., who remains one of comics most underrated stars despite 30 years in the business. What makes this a bit different from previous attempts at much the same concept is that Dave gets no real superpowers and the results go as bad for him as they would if someone were to try this in the real world. It's nice to see someone like Millar, who penned the Top Cow graphic novel behind "Wanted," the upcoming Angelina Jolie-James McAvoy pic, continue to experiment with a new idea when he surely would have his pick of any top Marvel or DC title to write. It may not quite live up to its own hype, but it's definitely a nice change of pace. Grade: A-

Creators: Becca Smith and Carrie Smith, writers; Elena Casagrande, artist
IDW, 32 pages, color, $3.99 each
So? The CBS series this comic is based on has been a quiet but consistent marketing innovator, having taken the show to Comic-Con the past couple of years and having previously produced a promo graphic novel. (I'm not sure why these efforts haven't paid off more in winning over the kind of vocal and visible fans that keep "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alive — is Jennifer Love Hewitt's portrayal of psychic Melinda Gordon too feminine and not hip enough for that crowd? I don't really know.) This five-issue outing written by a pair  scribes Smith and Smith show a good grasp on what works in comics, with the each issue's done-in-one mystery tying in quite well to a longer arc involving a larger threat to Melinda that's a bit more fantastic than what the TV show usually pulls off. There's a bit of repetition in that both mysteries revolve around the deaths of pick-on teenage girls whose spirits want revenge, but the clean art, moody colors and solid scripting make this an easy and enjoyable read. Grade: B+

Random comics stuff from around the web:

* The Weinstein Co.'s "Superhero Movie," the latest parody flick from the makers of "The Naked Gun" and "Scary Movie," was targeted for a boycott by fans upset with changes the studio made to "Fanboys." The fans protested changing the plot of the film, which revolved around a group of boys trying to see "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace" early because one of them was sick with cancer, to remove the cancer plot. Studio has announced it will release both the original and edited versions of "Fanboys."

* Speaking of "Superhero Movie," it's given me a chance to consider the worst superhero movies of all time over at Metromix.com.

* The NBC series "Chuck" is coming to comics in a six-issue miniseries from DC, written by the show's co-exec producer Peter Johnson and series writer Zev Borow.

* AICN reports director Matthew Vaughn, who helmed Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess's "Stardust" and slated to do "Thor" for Marvel, also is developing "Kick-Ass," based on the comic by Mark Millar ("Wanted") and John Romita Jr.

* Joby Harold has been hired to adapt Frank Miller's "Ronin" for the screen. Seems a shame to not see them going back to the script Miller himself wrote about 10 years ago back.

* In an interview with Newsarama, writer and artist Mike Allred says the script for a movie based on his Madman series is getting a final polish and is getting close to a green light.

* And finally, here's a look at the trailer for Marvel's next DVD animated feature, the kid-oriented "Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow," due out this summer.

The third New York Comic-Con is rolling out its list of special guests in the rampup to the third annual show April 18-20.

Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee will be honored with the first ever New York Comics Legend Award at a special VIP party April 17 at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. A limited number of tickets will be made available to the public starting Friday at the NYCC's website.

Newly announced guests of honor include current Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone; sci-fi author and Ultimate Iron Man writer Orson Scott Card; and writer and animator Mo Willems, who will headline Kids Day activities on Sunday. Looks like comics artist turned filmmaker Frank Miller and writer Neil Gaiman also will be on hand.

Also appearing will be Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, creators of the Adult Swim series "The Venture Bros."

Finally coming up for air from a big project, we find that Hugh Jackman has signed with Virgin Comics to create a comic called "Nowhere Man" — no relation to the Epic series of the same name Marvel published a few years back — that the actor and his producing partners hope will eventually be turned into videogames and a movie. Since Jackman's not a director, this falls under the purview of the Virgin Voices line instead of Director's Cut.

Working with Jackman on the book is Marc Guggenheim, creator of the TV skein "Eli Stone" and an increasingly prolific writer of comicbooks. Guggenheim has even written a number of stories for Marvel starring Wolverine, who Jackman played in three "X-Men" pics and in the upcoming "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" solo pic.

Full PR from Virgin in the jump.

Sci Fi Channel's collaboration with Virgin Comics appears to have hit it off its first at-bat. Cabler has announced an order for a two-hour pilot based on "The Stranded." Script for the pilot will be written by Mike Carey, who created "The Stranded" series for Virgin/Sci Fi. PR from Virgin in the jump.

Sci Fi also decided to develop "True Believer," based on a comic co-created by "Sin City" star Rosario Dawson. 

And while it's not based on a comic, plenty of comics fans will be pleased to hear that "Caprica," the prequel series to "Battlestar Galactica" has been given a greenlight as a backdoor pilot.

Man, George Miller's "Justice League of America" flick just can't get a break. After running into the roadbump of the WGA strike and controversial casting, the film now has been refused a rebate by the Australian government and will have to shoot elsewhere — most likely Canada.

Perhaps the strangest thing, though, is the title that's being attached to it: "Justice League: Mortal." I can't figure out if this is a typo or the actual title for the film. Best advice to WB: Pretend it's a mistake and go back to "Justice League of America," "JLA," just plain "Justice League" or even the 80s-inspired "Justice League International."