Entertainment

Benjamin Ahr Harrison directed this swell animated video that references Winsor McCay's great Little Nemo comic strip. Check out Hoffman's website for more musical stylings.

With Disney's D23 Expo coming up in a few days, the Mouse is priming the pump for some possible Marvel-related announcements. At the Television Critics Association press tour, ABC president Paul Lee confirmed that the AKA Jessica Jones and Guillermo del Toro=produced Hulk pilots are still in the works, saying both were being "aggressively" developed. He also dropped some arcane hints about...Castle?

If you're a Carl Barks collector, Heritage Auctions is selling a ton of great stuff, including autographed comics, correspondence, and, at the very high end some of Barks incredibly collectible -- and expensive -- oil paintings, like "Red Sails in the Sunset" which starts at $30,000. There's also this Barks Treasury Gold Limited Edition with Signed Certificate #320/1000 (Applewood Books, 1997) made out to "Steve."

Well now. A new day, a new action-oriented reveal for a WB movie character, in this case, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in next year's THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Textured catsuit? Check. Goggles? Check. Red lipstick? Check. Big-ass motorcycle? Check check check.

Warner Bros. has released the first picture of Henry Cavill as Superman, and as opposed to previous reveals, they have decided against a standing poser and gone for something way more action-filled and dramatic. And it works. While the trunks are in shadow, this does seem to be the traditional, red-pantied Superman look. Gone, however is the spit curl. The look of the photo is more than a little "Jim Lee-esque" with its heavy grading and dramatic lighting. In our opinion, not a bad update -- but what do you guys think?

We've suggested here several times that if someone wants to make some easy money, get Adam West and William Shatner together in a movie as retired detectives who just wander around saying things. Admit it! You would listen to West's mahogany stylings and Shatner's stentorian cadences non-stop!

Morgan Spurlock's documentary recapping the 2010 Comic-Con will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, it's being reported. The film -- backed by a nerd pantheon of people like Stan Lee, Joss Whedon and Thomas Tull -- was show at last year's con and was expected to perhaps debut at this year's, but Spurlock is going for a bigger film venue in TIFF.

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.

June was another down month, with periodical comics sales down 4.62 percent from June of 2010. The GN picture was more complicated. Overall, these numbers paint a pretty dicey picture for the Fantasy Economy. (See Larry Marder's comment's here). June 2010 may have been an abnormal month for GN sales but there is a need for more franchises like Hellboys, Chews and Narutos.

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?

Despite the awful, whitewashed M. Night Shyamalan movie, AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER retains its passionate fanbase, and news of a sequel, THE LEGEND OF KORRA, a 26-episode miniseries, has had hearts a fluttering for some time. The trailer was released at Comic-Con, and the panel had lots of news about the show, which is slated to air next year.

The Bruce Timm-designed superhero character The Flaming C -- aka Conan O'Brien -- has proven to have legs, probably because of that sexy fishnetssock garters combo he wears. Conan was a big topic at the big show, with an off-site art gallery, and a much hyped special appearance. Here's the trailer that made a guest appearance at the animated Green Lantern cartoon. While we'd totally watch a show that looked like this, maybe 73 is just long enough.