News

"You've just won the MegaMillions lottery! What are you going to do with your winnings?"

Last week, Silver Springs, MD police made a fantastic collar when a routine pullover for a license plate violation revealed a Lamborghini driven by a man in a Batman suit. But was it THE Batman or just a pale imitation?

The force behind Ben 10, Generator Rex, and now the Disney XD Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, Man of Action Studios is is getting even more projects out there, THR reports. MoA—aka Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly and Steven T. Seagle—has several new projects in the pipeline:

The Doug Wright Awards, which recognize English language Canadian comics creators in three categories, have just announced the 2012 finalists. Expected names like Chester Brown and Kate Beaton are mixed with newer folks like Ethan Rilly and Connor Willumsen. There's not a title on this list that isn't worthy of reading.

Deadline is reporting that WB has changed tactics and now wants a trial in the ongoing rights battle over Superman:

After months of searching for the right person, Wizard World, the convention/website company, has hired John Macaluso as CEO. Macaluso, whose background is in the apparel business, was already on the board. We had a brief chat with Macaluso about the news last week, and he's excited about the role. "We're going to be running a better company and fans are going to see a difference in our shows."

Yes, we know that there is only one Reuben Award, the big one, but for the sake of a headline, here are the NCS divisional nominees. This is the first time the NCS Awards have recognized webcomics, a welcome and inevitable move towards modernization. The choices — The Oatmeal, Penny Arcade and Scenes from a Multiverse (above)—aren't too groundbreaking but they are all good strips. The winners will be announced Memorial Day weekend at the annual NCS meeting, to be held this year in Las Vegas.

New Yorker cartoonist Al Ross has died age of 100. Two of his brothers were cartoonists as well.

We're growing, moving and shaking here at Stately Beat Manor and we want YOU to be a part of it!

Talk about a lousy break: The van containing all of Avatar's merchandise from WonderCon that was going on to Emerald City Comicon was stolen from a comics shop parking lot:

Long-time Steve Roper and Mike Nomad artist Fran Matera has passed away at age 88. An ex-Marine, Matera specialized in realistic adventure comics in a long career that also included a run on Kerry Drake.

This is what we call a "hot drink" post in the biz*, as in, you must get a hot drink and a comfy chair before you dive in to the next link. Pádraig Ó Méalóid has done an amazing job of putting together a Gaiman/McFarlane/Marvelman timeline, which, although it only skims the details of the Marvelman deals of the '80s, does cover the 10-year legal battle between Gaiman and McFarlane as it pertains to Marvelman. It's a tale of (Tony) twists and turns. Of course the pre-history is also stunning: