DC Entertainment gets shiny new Burbank offices
DC Entertainment is an important part of the Warners Stable, and although they won't be headquartered on the lot, they are getting offices in a swanky new building just up the street, THR reports. An unnamed number of employees will be moving into the second floor of The Pointe, at 2900 Alameda Ave., conveniently located between the Warners lot and the Disney lot and catty-corner to NBC.
Kingstone Media makes another run at faith-based comics
Religious bookstores remain one of the pillars of the independent bookstore world, but companies trying to target them with comics have had varying levels of success -- or failure. PW reports on Kingstone Media which has jumped into the category with funding and a wide ranging line of books:
Retailers wake up and smell DC’s day and date
A story from the Boston Globe captures the mood of comics retailers who are sitting on the porch sipping an iced tea while the digital tornado comes right for them. Some sip their cool drink knowing that no matter what happens, they had a good run:
Gene Colan 1926-2011
Artist Gene Colan, whose mastery of expression and action alike made him a giant of the Silver Age and beyond, passed away tonight, longtime friend and helper Clifford Meth reports. Colan had been in a coma following a fall and in general ill health from ongoing liver problems.
Rowling goes Akallabêth and self-publisher on Pottermore
Although Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has remained mum about her future writing, she has a lot of existing writing on the Potterverse -- notebooks full of background information and so on. This week she launched a new website Pottermore, which will sell digital copies of her Potter books, audio books, and offer all sorts of Mufggle-friendly activities:
Pioneering comics retailer Bud Plant selling business
Bay Area comics retailer/distributor Bud Plant, one the first first retailers to specialize in independent comics and related art books has announced his retirement after 41 years in the business, according to a letter to his mailing list:
Gary Groth on reprints, digital, Borders, DC and even more
Today's slam dunk interview is Alex Dueben's chat with Fantagraphics' publisher Gary Groth, probably just because on the internet a frank discussion with a knowledgeable comics publishing figure is about as common as a humble moment from LeBron. Throw in that he has stellar vocabulary skills, and you have a winner.
RIP Lew Sayre Schwartz (1926-2011)
Golden Age artist Lew Sayre Schwartz, best known as one of Bob Kane's ghosts of the Batman comic, died over the weekend of complications from a fall, according to his son Andrew. A memorial service is planned for July.
What does GREEN LANTERN’s box-office mean for DC Entertainment?
Meanwhile, back at the box office, GREEN LANTERN debuted at #1 with $52.6 million, less than THOR and even X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. As the Times put it: "An all-hands-on-deck effort by Warner Brothers to turn “Green Lantern” into a box office superpower fizzled over the weekend." With a budget of a reported $300 million, dreadful reviews and a big Friday-to-Saturday drop-off, GL's task as the advance guard for a new generation of movies based on DC characters has been made much more difficult.
2011 Joe Shuster Award winners announced
More great Canadian cartoonists were honored Saturday, with the presentation of this year's Joe Shuster Awards at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo with...
RIP: Wild Man Fischer
Musician Larry "Wild Man" Fischer died on June 16th at age 66. Challenged by severe mental illness his whole life, he was one of the earliest known examples of Outsider Music with his tuneless, shouted ditties that somehow still tapped into the joy of music and performance.
THE LEGAL VIEW: Super-style and the DCU Relaunch
Judging from the images released so far, it would appear that the relaunched versions of Superman and Superboy will be different from previous versions. Superman will no longer be wearing red shorts over his blue tights, and his belt, boots and S-symbol have also undergone notable alterations. Somewhat more dramatically, Superboy is sporting a black shirt and pants, a black-and-white S-shield mini-cape attached to his back, and a stylized red S-shield tattoo. It also appears that both characters will have significant changes in their continuity, most notably Superman’s age and his relationship with Lois Lane.
This changes in the Superman costume are in themselves not likely to provide a solid foundation for erasing the Siegel heirs' ownership interest. However, the costume changes and other shifts in continuity are consistent with DC's arguments for limiting what the Siegels now own.
