June
5 Comic-Con 4-day passes sell out

With just under two months to go, Comic-Con Intl. has sold out of four-day passes. One-day passes are still available, but if you want to go and don’t yet have your passes, get on it now or risk losing out. Remember, no passes will be sold on-site; they must be bought in advance. So far, no listings on eBay or Stubhub, but as the show gets closer, that might change.

COMICS DEAL REPORT: Disney has signed a trio of execs — Ahmet Zappa, former Twentieth TV chief Harris Katleman and comics creator Christian Beranek — to oversee its new Kingdom Comics initiative, which will develop graphic novels for potential film development and turn old Disney favorites into graphic novels. ... Gale Anne Hurd's Valhalla Motion Pictures has teamed up with Platinum Studios to produce a feature film based on the upcoming Platinum graphic novel "Final Orbit." Russell Gewirtz is set to adapt the comic. ... Holding Pictures has optioned Steve Niles' "Wake the Dead." James V. Hart is adapting and Jay Russell is set to direct. ... Ryan Condal is set to adapt Warren Ellis and Chris Sprouse's sci-fi title "Ocean" to the big screen for "300" producers Hollywood Gang ... /Film reports DreamWorks has acquired "Roundtable," a  spec script by Brian K. Vaughan. ... David Goyer's "Supermax" is reportedly being retitled "Green Arrow." ... ICV2 reports "My Life Me," an animated series created by "Dramacon" creator Svetlana Chmakova, is going into production on 52 11-minute eps and 26 original shorts for mobile and video on demand platforms. Project is being produced by TV-Loonland and CarpeDiem Film & TV.

PUBLISHING NEWS: Marvel expands its relationship with Stephen King, announcing a comicbook adaptation of "The Stand." Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa will write and Mike Perkins draw the series, which will be based on the unabridged version of the novel. ... Former Marvel editor Andy Schmidt joins IDW as a senior editor. He'll oversee G.I. Joe comics, the license to which the publisher recently acquired. Joe books were previously published by Devil’s Due. ... Top Cow will preview at Comic-Con Starfall, a new series coming from Darkchylde creator Randy Queen. ... More rockers write comics, as Claudio Sanchez of the prog-rock group Coheed and Cambria will pen "The Armory Wars: The Second Stage Turbine Blade, Vol. 2" for Evil Ink and Image Comics. ... Prior to its restructuring a few days back (more on that later), TOKYOPOP announced for Book Expo three new manga series to be published in conjunction with HarperCollins: Warriors: Tigerstar and Sasha, Warriors: The Rise of Scourge, and Bad Kitty: Catnipped. Publisher also acquired the rights to publish "Goth: A Novel of Horror!" and a manga adaptation of the book, which is in development as a feature film at Fox Atomic.

WEBCOMICS: Publisher AAM Markosia has launched a webcomics division, with two free features, "Baby Boomers" by writer Richard McCauliffe and artist Chad Cicconi, and "Digging For Apples" by Donna Stewart. ... Caanan Grall's Celadore won the May competition at Zuda; the June contenders are now up and running. ... Webcomics collective  The Chemistry Set is coming to print in August with an anthology from Desperado Publishing titled "No Formula: Stories from The Chemistry Set, Vol. 1."

MORE SHOWS AND EVENTS: The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival is set for this weekend at the Puck Building on Lafayette Street in New York. Guest of honor is animator Bill Plympton, with Lynda Barry, Scott Morse, Brian Wood, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Art Spiegelman and J.J. Sedelmaier appearing at the fund-raiser show. ... Wizard World Philly saw the usual pantheon of Marvel and DC panels and plugs. The redesigned Newsarama has a convenient wrapup, while artist Mike Manley writes about low attendance and wonders if the show's days are numbered. ... The next DC Universe DVD release, "Batman: Gotham Knight," gets a panel and screening at the upcoming Anime Expo, set for July 3-6 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

MISCELLANEOUS FILE: Marvel's getting a lot of press for portraying U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown heroically in the latest issue of Captain Britain and MI-13. ... Feevee net Starz will air the special "Comic Books Unbound" starting June 10, offering a decent  if not particularly memorable overview of the comics to screen phenomenon. ... Filmmaker Chris Cowan is making a series of "Elseworlds" shorts based on DC characters that will go up on YouTube.