Official Press Release We’re back with a new edition of Friday Fun! In 1956 and 1962 Planned Parenthood released a comic book encouraging the use of birth control. It’s pretty fascinating and well worth the read.
Highlights are below.
You can read the full comic at http://www.ep.tc/problems/seventeen/.
A sequel to Green Lantern movie (which hasn’t even been released) is already being worked on. Warner Bros. anticipating a hit and following the success of Marvel’s movie schedule, set the sequel in motion.
The Hollywood Reporter got the exclusive scoop that:
The studio has hired Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim, all of whom worked on the ‘Lantern’ screenplay, to write a treatment for the second installment. ‘Lantern’ is shooting in New Orleans under the direction of Martin Campbell with Ryan Reynolds starring as the emerald ring-wielding DC Comics superhero who is part of an intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. Development on a second installment this far out from a movie’s release date is rare, signaling the studio’s confidence in what it sees so far. It also appears to be the first moves the studio is making under its newly configured relationship with DC.
Berlanti, Green, and Guggenheim have also been tapped to work on a treatment for the Flash, another DC property. Ryan Reynolds was also rumored to play the lead in the Flash before he was cast as Hal Jordan in Green Lantern.
Another day, another teaser from Marvel for the new X-Men series launching in July. We’ll see the X-Men taking on Vampires as both species are having some issues surviving at the moment. Anyone looking forward to this?
X-MEN #1 (MAY100628)
X-MEN #1 ROMITA JR VARIANT (MAY100630)
X-MEN #1 MEDINA VARIANT (MAY100632)
X-MEN #1 DJURDJEVIC VARIANT (MAY100633)
X-MEN #1 BLANK VARIANT (MAY100629)
Written by VICTOR GISCHLER
Penciled by PACO MEDINA
Cover by ADI GRANOV
Variant Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.
Variant Cover by PACO MEDINA
Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Rated T+ …$3.99
FOC—6/17/10, On-sale—7/8/10
We’re counting down the days until Robert Kirkman’s comic series The Walking Dead comes to television. AMC is teasing us with lots of photos and videos leading up to the series’s premiere. We’re groaning with anticipation.
Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile”) is writing and directing the series, with Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures and David Alpert of Circle of Confusion executive producing along with Darabont and Kirkman.
“The Walking Dead” stars Andrew Lincoln (“Love, Actually,” “Teachers”), Jon Bernthal (“The Pacific,” “The Ghost Writer”), Jeffrey DeMunn (“The Green Mile”), Laurie Holden (“Shield”), Steven Yeun and Sarah Wayne Callies (“Prison Break”).
AMC has ordered six episodes for Season 1 and debuts in October.
Official Press Release
The Birth of The Marvel Universe’s Greatest Villain
SHADOWLAND #1 (of 5) (MAY100588)
Written by ANDY DIGGLE
Penciled by BILLY TAN
Cover by JOHN CASSADAY
Wraparound Variant Cover by BILLY TAN
Rated T+ …$3.99
FOC – 6/17/10, On Sale – 7/8/10
It started as a mockery of Marvel’s teasers, but Image’s new series Guardians of the Globe will feature a back up story featuring the joke team of Invincible, Spawn, Rick Grimes, Barack Obama, and Gary Popper.
“The response to the Guardians of the Globe teasers was astounding,” says GUARDIANS co-writer Robert Kirkman. “So many people wanted to see a Guardians team made up of Invincible, Spawn, Rick Grimes, Barack Obama, and Gary Popper. Ask, and you will receive!”
Giarrusso states, “I’ll be featuring President Barack Obama in a comic. As far as I know, this is something that has never been done before. A move like this is bound to stir up a lot of heated controversy, but I have the opportunity to do something historically groundbreaking in these strips.”
As the Viltrumite War rages on within the pages of INVINCIBLE, the ranks of the Guardians of the Globe are suddenly depleted. The world is in danger and the team is in search of new blood. It’s the biggest recruitment drive since Omni-Man slaughtered the original members. But will it be in time to stop The Order? This series is a can’t-miss action extravaganza, with one-page backups featuring the Guardians of the Globe that never were: Invincible, Spawn, Rick Grimes, Barack Obama, and Gary Popper!
GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE #1 (of 6) — a 32-page full-color comic written by Robert Kirkman and Benito Cereno, illustrated by Ransom Getty, and featuring a backup story by Chris Giarrusso — will be on sale for $3.50 on August 25, 2010. Giarusso’s G-MAN, VOL. 1: LEARNING TO FLY, a 96-page full-color trade paperback for $9.99, and G-MAN, VOL. 2: CAPE CRISIS, a 128-page full-color trade paperback, will both be in stores September 29, 2010.
Official Press Release
Your First Look At Wolverine #1!
Marvel is proud to present your first look at Wolverine #1 from red-hot writer Jason Aaron and rising star artist Renato Guedes! Just in time for his all-new ongoing, Wolverine’s soul gets sent straight to hell…literally! However, while Wolverine’s soul is in Hell, his body is terrorizing all that are close to him. This September, Wolverine #1 delivers Logan doing what he does best, in true Wolverine fashion. And what he does best is not very nice.
WOLVERINE #1
Written by JASON AARON
Penciled by RENATO GUEDES
Cover by JAE LEE
Variant Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN
Variant Cover by PAUL SMITH
Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Sketch Variant Cover by JAE LEE
Blank Variant Cover also available!
Parental Advisory …$3.99
ON SALE THIS SEPTEMBER!
Official Press Release
Media Release — Today a coalition of Japanese and U.S. publishers announced a coordinated effort to combat a rampant and growing problem of internet piracy plaguing the manga industry. “Scanlation,” as this form of piracy has come to be known, refers to the unauthorized digital scanning and translation of manga material that is subsequently posted to the internet without the consent of copyright holders or their licensees. According to the coalition, the problem has reached a point where “scanlation aggregator” sites now host thousands of pirated titles, earning ad revenue and/or membership dues at creators’ expense while simultaneously undermining foreign licensing opportunities and unlawfully cannibalizing legitimate sales. Worse still, this pirated material is already making its way to smartphones and other wireless devices, like the iPhone and iPad, through apps that exist solely to link to and republish the content of scanlation sites.
Participants in the coalition include the 36 members of Japan’s Digital Comic Association, Square Enix, VIZ Media, TOKYOPOP, Vertical, Inc., the Tuttle-Mori Agency and Yen Press. Working together, the membership of the coalition will actively seek legal remedies to this intellectual property theft against those sites that fail to voluntarily cease their illegal appropriation of this material.
“It is unfortunate that this action has become necessary,” said a spokesperson for the group. “However, to protect the intellectual property rights of our creators and the overall health of our industry, we are left with no other alternative but to take aggressive action. It is our sincere hope that offending sites will take it upon themselves to immediately cease their activities. Where this is not the case, however, we will seek injunctive relief and statutory damages. We will also report offending sites to federal authorities, including the anti-piracy units of the Justice Department, local law enforcement agencies and FBI.”
The coalition stated that it has currently identified thirty sites targeted for action.
Participant members of the Digital Comic Association include: Akane Shinsha, Akita Shoten, ASCII Media Works, East Press, Ichijinsha, Enterbrain, Okura Shuppan, Ohzora Shuppan, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, Gentosha Comics, Kodansha, Jitsugyo No Nihonsha, Shueisha, Junet, Shogakukan, Shogakukan Shueisha Production, Shodensha, Shonen Gahosha, Shinshokan, Shinchosa, Take Shobo, Tatsumi Shuppan, Tokuma Shoten, Nihon Bungeisha, Hakusensha, Fujimi Shobo, Fusosha, Futabasha, France Shoin, Bunkasha, Houbunsha, Magazine House, Media Factory, Leed sha, Libre Shuppan.
Things for Another World has announced the Second Annual SDCC Autograph Card/CBLDF Auction event. In 2009 TFAW teamed up with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and raised over $30,000 for the CBLDF’s annual auction at San Diego Comic-Con.
TFAW is asking artists to create original works of art to donate to the CBLDF auction at San Diego Comic-Con. In exchange, each artist will receive 500 free limited-edition autograph cards of his or her sketch to distribute in San Diego, and TFAW will also give out additional copies at their booth during the Con.
Comics professionals who are interested in taking part are asked to please email Andrew McIntire with the subject line “CBLDF 2010 Auction” at their earliest convenience.
Deadlines:
In order to participate, publishers and creators must provide the following by the dates below:
• June 16: Confirmation that they will participate, including the proper spellings of their first and last names and publishers, if applicable.
TFAW will still gladly accept new participants through July 9! However, creators and publishers must respond by June 16 if they want to be included in TFAW’s SDCC Event Guide ad.
• July 9: A print-quality (300 dpi) B&W version of the creator’s art (.EPS or .TIFF) for the limited-edition autograph cards, as well as a small JPG file for inclusion in the CBLDF’s online auction preview.
• July 14: Deadline to send art to the CBLDF’s NYC office (original art may also be delivered to the CBLDF’s booth at SDCC by July 23).
Each card will include the artist’s name, SDCC booth number, the publisher’s logo (where applicable), and TFAW’s logo. The back will feature information urging recipients to support the CBLDF and attend the auction at SDCC ‘10, as well as a brief sponsor message.
All of the proceeds from the auction of every piece will go to the CBLDF. Additionally, participants will receive the following:
• Frequent mention in the weeks leading up to, and after, SDCC ‘10 in the TFAW blog, newsletters, and social media profiles, and a permanent link on our CBLDF support page, which will reside on TFAW.com throughout 2010. This page will be referenced in all external online advertising and press releases.
• Inclusion in TFAW’s ad in the SDCC ‘10 Event Guide (if confirmation of participation is received by June 16), which outlines the fundraising initiative and makes mention of all participating industry professionals.
• Public mention at the CBLDF’s auction when the donated piece is offered.
• Recognition and mention on the CBLDF’s website.
Visit TFAW’s SDCC 2010 Auction page at http://www.tfaw.com/sdcc10-auction to see all of the participating publishers and creators!
If you’re a comics professional who wants to participate in this event, or if you have any further questions, please email Andrew McIntire at andrewm@tfaw.com with the subject line “CBLDF 2010 Auction.”
Stuart Ross, the man who made a fortune introducing the Smurfs to the US public, has been accused of attempting to extort $11 million from his son-in-law David Blitzer. The man who made millions can’t even afford bail. Ross’s lawyer said he made some “bad investments.”
Ross, 73, concocted a plan Gargamel would approve of. Ross threatened to smear Blitzer’s reputation unless he paid up.
Ross, and his co-defendant Stuart Jackson, his former lawyer, were indicted in 2008 for grand larceny and attempted grand larceny. For $5.5 million Ross told his daughter he would no longer contact her, her husband, or their unborn child.
Ross held the rights to the North American distribution to the French creation the Smurfs who are bound for a new movie.
