DC

September was a fairly low-profile month for DC's comic-book business. In terms of new releases, there were the debut of the Freedom Fighters series, a Justice Society of America Special and a bunch of one-shots reviving the company's old war titles. Still, thanks to a handful of returning DC Universe and Vertigo books that had missed their release dates in August, average and overall periodical sales slightly recovered, as expected. WildStorm published a few one-shot specials tying in with the Red film and reviving Wetworks, of all things, with less than spectacular results.

We had a few moments to stop by a signing for 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking last night, and snapped a picture of author Paul Levitz, DC's Steve Korte, and Taschen Art Director Josh Baker. I have seen a lot of books about comics, but I have never seen a more beautiful one than this -- the reproductions are incredibly crisp and vibrant, and there are double page pull-outs, charts and even a chromium insert to mark the "modern age." With the text, Levitz proves that if knowing everything there is to know about a company's history qualifies you to run that company, he was the best qualified president in history.

After a delay due to a procedural matter, the Superman lawsuit is back on. This case is more complicated than a DC crossover event, but the bottom line is that depositions by the heirs of Siegel and Shuster -- Joanne Siegel, Laura Siegel Larson, Jean Peavy and Mark Peavy -- are now taking place.

The first GREEN LANTERN trailer debuted on Entertainment Tonight this evening. The full HD version is viewable on Apple.

Various stuff from blogs and PR and whatnot.

As everyone probably knows by now, the first public footage from the eagerly awaited Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively has surfaced as a teaser for a full reveal on Tuesday's Entertainment Tonight. The reaction to this footage has been...mixed.

WOW -- so much e-ink over the news that J. Michael Straczynski, a prominent comics writer and Hollywood show runner, is leaving monthly comics to write an OGN sequel. And now two interviews at CBR and Newsarama to explain what really happened:

Okay, here's what we know now. Re, death of Spider-Man, Marvel released a cover for AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #655 which seems to link up to that...

Well. That was fast The SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE OGN has been a BIG, BIG hit for DC, topping the NY Times graphic best seller list AND the Diamond charts. So a sequel by writer J Michael Straczynski and artist Shane Davis is a no-brainer. This the DC blog announces today.

Digital comics continue to evolve quickly into a significant revenue stream for publishers, and they are increasingly moving forward without worrying about other sales outlets. To wit, today's announcement that DC has installed a standalone comics store on their site. Co-publisher Jim Lee, who has led the charge on this, made the announcement on the Source blog:

Artist Ashley Wood ruminates on the occasion of a collected edition of Automatic Kafka, his surreal but energizing collaboration with writer Joe Casey, most recently lauded as part of the WildStorm heritage. What Thrillerwas the the '80s this was to the Aughts, and it's fantastic that it's finally been collected. Only one catch...it's in Spanish.

In all the massive changes taking place at DC of late, the fate of the Vertigo imprint has caused much speculation and fretting. The staff has been slashed, output has been slowed, and what the future focus will be has not been publicly revealed. This comes, ironically enough, at the very time that plans long hatched for Vertigo to become more of a graphic novel imprint are finally being published. Chris Mautner takes a look at several recent GN offerings, which include work by novelists Stephen King, Peter Straub, Denise Mina, and Mat Johnson, as well as more typical comics types like Matt Kindt, Sarah Glidden and Dean Haspiel. There are hits and misses but this is really a pretty lively line-up for any publisher, let alone one that is being completely rebranded.