§ Superboy??? Jeff Trexler looks at the possible legal reasons for the character’s return and reminds us that the Superman trial is underway right now:
A settlement is one possibility, though at present it seems a relatively less likely explanation. The court record in the Superboy lawsuit contains no reference to a finalized settlement. To the contrary, the parties stated last year that court-ordered mediation did not resolve the dispute. As things stand, the court record indicates that the resolution of the Superboy lawsuit will follow the court’s judgments in the Superman trials, the first of which began this past week. (More on that soon in another post!)
A more likely explanation as to why DC feels comfortable reviving Superboy–or at least the Conner Kent version–is that the company’s legal position regarding the character improved considerably after the 2007 court ruling that vacated a previous judgment awarding the rights to the Siegel heirs.
§ Jann Jones has joined Viz as an editor, Robot Six reports. She was formerly senior coordinating editor at DC. Congrats to Jann!
§ Ed Chavez has joined Vertical as Marketing Director. He has previously worked with CMX and Kodansha, and of course, headed up MangaCast. Congrats to Ed!
§ Less happy news at McFarlane Toys, which has laid off 27 people from its design staff. More details at Playthings.
§ There are surely tons and tons o’ Free Comic Book Day reports out there, and we’re finishing up a big post for a bit later, so here are TWO to keep you while we round up more: CBR’s 15 hours of non-stop FCBD action! and Kiel & Kegmeister’s Excellent Free Comic Book Day. Please link to your report in the comments.
§ Oh yeah, also via the Cool Kids’ Table: Jack Kirby and an ex-Beatle. The story, from Lisa Kirby, here.
That shot of Macca with The King has got to be about the coolest thing I’ve seen in awhile.