Comics

While given everything that went on, having another go at Green Lantern seems like a surprising move, Warners really has no choice. They've made a huge investment in their superhero franchises, and with Harry Potter gone, they need another tentpole franchise. Batman gets rebooted after next year and Superman is a big question mark at this point, so throwing money and marketing partnerships at it until the Happy Meals stick seems to be the only way to go.

All of you folks who have been crying about diversity in comics had better be all over this! Marvel has revealed that the new Ultimate Spider-Man will be Hispanic/African-American teenager Miles Morales. A USA Today story broke the news and reveals that yes, Donald Glover's campaign to play Spider-Man was an influence on writer Brian Michael Bendis, although only as an indication that previous discussions about relaunching Spider-Man as a non-white character were on the right track.

What writer has made the biggest contribution to the many universes of DC? Now that question can be answered, at least in terms of volume. Jason Kirk has been playing with the Grand Comic Database and come up with a list of the top 100 DC Comics by page count. You'll need to go to the full link, but here's the top 20 for arguments sake and some of Kirk's talking points:

Spinning out of a Facebook discussion, cartoonist and educator Steve Bissette is making a case for a boycott of Marvel over how shabbily they have treated Jack Kirby and his heirs:

Another winner in TCJ's cartoonist diary series.

Isotope Comics in San Francisco is hosting a MASSIVE epic this Saturday with Grant Morrison as he winds down his SUPERGODS tour. The event includes an all-ages signing from 2-5, followed by a night-time hangout that features the amazing lo-ball glasses designed by Cameron Stewart and Sonia Harris, designer of BUTCHER BAKER, THE RIGHTEOUS MAKER.

Artist Brent Anderson has sent out an updated list of the art that was stolen from his car just after the San Diego Comic-Con. If you see any of this for sale, please contact him. Images of some of the stolen art can be seen on his art page.

The Smurfs shocked everyone by tying the much hyped COWBOYS & ALIENS at the box office this weekend and we dig into Platinum's stock filings to see what's up at the company. Plus: Who is Ervin Rustemagic?

It seems that Kyrax2's lonely crusade at Comic-Con -- booed and laughed at and told to shut up -- has yielded results, as the internet has swelled one voice to thousands. Last yesterday, DC Entertainment co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee posted a statement called, simply, We hear you:

I was only able to attend one DC new 52 panel, and it was the first one, the one that has gotten a particular soundbite spread all around the internet. DC has made all their panels available as podcasts, and I guess if you are a real Kremlinologist you'll want to comb over these tapes for clues and evidence. I do want to talk about the panel I attended, because there are some things that happened that I witnessed that I haven't seen reported, and some other private moments that I witnessed that I think add to the whole picture. So here's what I know:

This year's Bronze medalistAbby Denson alerts us to the call for applications for the 5th Annual International Manga Awards, presented by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A sad day for those who hoped, perhaps against hope, that Jack "The King' Kirby's heirs would get some of the money their father's creations have made over the years. Characters including Captain America (created in the '40s with Joe Simon), The Hulk, Iron Man and Thor-- you know, if they called next year's potential biggest-movie-of-all-time THE AVENEGRS "JACK KIRBY'S AVENGERS" they would not be far from the mark. Deadline has analysis, seeing it as a big setback for lawyer Marc Toberoff, who has won many unlikely IP cases against giant studios in the past: