News

Perhaps it's only fitting that double identity has been a central issue in the never-ending battle over the Superman copyright. As longtime readers of my posts may recall, the relation between the original and contemporary versions of Superman has been central to the Siegel lawsuits from the beginning. To set the stage for the posts that follow, let's take a quick review of how the multiple versions of Superman have played a role in the Siegel lawsuits.

The CCI folks have announced the 2011 nominees for Most Promising Newcomer, an art award that recognizes up and coming talent. Past winners include Dave Stevens, Jeff Smith, and David Petersen, so they have a pretty good track record. The nominees were selected by a committee and the winner (selected by past winners and Russ Manning assistants) will be announced July 22 during the Eisner award ceremony.

Steve Niles, who has been very much in the forefront of the renewed emphasis on creator controlled comics, looks at what recent events mean:

Good news! Turns out DC isn't trying to destroy the direct sales market with their "Flashboot" -- or whatever it's called -- relaunch after all! And it is a relaunch, not a reboot, according to a letter sent by SVP of Sales Bob Wayne to retailers, announcing a pricing strategy that will see digital comics at the SAME price as print comics for their first four weeks of release. Wayne calls this "price parity" -- " No DC digital comic will be cheaper than its physical counterpart at launch." The Johns/Lee JLA #1 will be available with a digital download for $4.99, in print and digital only for $3.99 each.

Via PR and an interview with CBR, the much-argued over Valiant comics characters are coming back, this time under a group led by former Marvel CEO Peter Cuneo, his brother, Gavin, CEO Jason Kothari and director Dinesh Shamdasani.

On his Facebook page, JMS praises DC's plan to relaunch its superhero line and gives a hint of the backstory.

[Earlier today we ran an essay by longtime Beat contributor Mark Coale on The DC Flashpoint Reboot. In it he stated he was going to stop reading DC entirely. In the interests of fairness, we reached out to find readers who are excited about the changes. We've gotten several great responses and we'll run them over the next day or so. And yes we'll get back to non-DC news very very soon!}

While there will be plenty of PR spinning about DC's big news as a great jumping on point for new readers and all that other doublespeak, let's look at the other side of the coin.

Why is it that the biggest news always happens right after a holiday weekend? 18 months ago, it was Disney buying Marvel after Labor Day; this time, it's the biggest editorial readjustment at a superhero comics company EVER: DC's just announced plan to launch 52 new #1 issues in September, with changed or adjusted characters, costumes and and origins. Here's what you need to know, the confirmed and the speculation. First, what we know: The whole new line up will be announced on Monday, June 13th, when the Previews for that month is released. Until then, expect to see breaking news in national news outlets and on The Source.

The complete image of the new Johns-Lee rebooted JLA has surfaced (apparently at IGN) and it's clear that we have a "Big Seven" of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. Most of the new costumes involved higher collars. Superman has a new logo and no trunks over his tights. There are lots of other details, but when we mentioned earlier that these characters looked about the same we meant it -- these are tweaks on the traditional (Super Friends, licensing) looks for these characters, not huge changes.

From around the Twitterverse, an array of reactions to DC's news that they are reboot their line in September and going to simultaneous digital release. New comics universes are a dime a dozen, but the digital news is really a game changer -- it's hard not to see every other publishers following suit quickly.

The next big announcement for this move would seem to be June 11, when Jim Lee and Geoff Johns are expected to "drop bombshells" at the Hero Complex Film Festival. Although HeroesCon, one of the bigger shows on the circuit, is this weekend, there are no official DC panels so no big announcements. Executive Editor Eddie Berganza is attending however, so catch him on the bar and hope he didn't sign an NDA.

Traditionally, digital comics have been to comics retailers what kryptonite was to Superman -- something to be feared and avoided. And DC's Bob Wayne has been in the forefront of keeping retailers happy, to the point of shutting down many initiatives over the years that might have ruffled their feathers and caused them to order fewer DC Comics.