DC

by Marc-Oliver Frisch

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Unit and dollar sales of DC Comics' periodical business remained at the lower end of the spectrum in February, despite a slight recovery from January's all-time low in average unit sales. However, the direct market as a whole has seen better days, and so DC still managed to snatch the three top spots of the chart and six out of the Top 10 in February, regardless of the company's lackluster sales.

For the publisher's mainstream DC Universe line, the absence of major titles Batman Incorporated and Batman: The Dark Knight continued to be a problem, while the hangover from the discontinued WildStorm imprint kept dragging down the average. Average comic-book sales of DC's Vertigo imprint were still hovering above the 10k mark, meanwhile.

See below for the details, and please consider the small print at the end of the column. Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com's estimates can be found here.

Over at The Source, DC is releasing more info on Retroactive, a series of retro one-shots by classic teams starting in July. No final art has been released yet -- the image of Superman below is just style guide art.

Out of deference to those who have yet to pick up and slip to the last page of BRIGHTEST DAY #23, we'll put this in the jump.

DO NOT CLICK UNLESS YOU WANT SPOILERS.

NOT KIDDING.

It's one last go-round for some classic DC logos and characters with DC's new RETRO-ACTIVE mini-event, which features creators and characters from the '70s, '80s, and '90s with a series of one-shots. Each decade has been given it's own, era-appropriate logo.

Wow! Lots of great books coming out this month!

It was the biggest panel of the day at WonderCon, and the most crucial hour yet for the future of the revamped DC Entertainment brand. With appearances by stars Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, and the first view of effects-heavy footage, the Green Lantern panel was the chance to show that this is indeed the tentpole movie that is going to usher in a new era for DC's superhero universe.. Interest was certainly high, as a line to get in to the 5 pm panel stretched almost around the Moscone center. The panel was led by Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns himself. The only previous GL trailer was heavy on the romance aspect, due to the CGI footage not being ready -- and leading to some questions ever whether this movie was going to please the loyal Green Lantern fanboys. However, this new footage seems to lay those doubts to rest with a spectacular look at Oa, the GL Corps, Sinestro, Tomar Re, and the rest of the Lanternverse. You can read about the panel here, or watch the footage below.

Major push for Green Lantern with panels and signings and screenigns of comics, movies, cartoons and more. Via the Source Blog:

During C2E2, I discovered some old issues of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld in the quarter bins.  I knew of this series, but had not read any comics of the character.  I have an eight-year-old niece who loves Wonder Woman, and thought she might enjoy another super-powered princess.

Hooray! A grown woman will play the grown-up Lois Lane in the Superman reboot being prepped by Zack Snyder. Oscar-nominated Amy Adams will play the nosy reporter, “There was a big, giant search for Lois,” Snyder said of the casting. “For us it was a big thing and obviously a really important role. We did a lot of auditioning but we had this meeting with Amy Adams and after that I just felt she was perfect for it.”

Everyone needs a hobby. Artist Mike Kelley has a doozy. He's been devoting the last ten years to making glass imaged of Kandor, the lost Kryptonian "City in a bottle." It seems that before Superman's home planet was blown to smithereens, Brainiac stole the capital city of Kandor, shrank it down, and put it in a bottle, as we might save a ship or a guppy. Superman recovered the city in ACTION COMICS #242, and decided to keep it in the Fortress of Solitude, because nothing breaks up a lonely day like a tiny bottled city full of Kryptonians.

With a bunch of editorial types going off to California to join Geoff Johns' secret avengers team, there have been a few openings in DC editorial of late, and at least two have been filled.

The pilot for the Wonder Woman revamp just started shooting, and EW has revealed the first still of star Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night LIghts)...