Tag: DC

By Jeff Trexler-- In March 2008, Grant Morrison's homage to Siegel and Shuster appeared in comic shops on the very same day that the Siegel heirs recaptured half the original Superman copyright.  Now Morrison is set to work his shaman's magic once again in the September relaunch of Action #1--and this time, the Siegels could lose everything. Morrison's upcoming Supergods holds the key to understanding why. For an explanation and a sneak preview of Morrison’s new book, click below. A mysterious appeal, Joe Shuster’s super-swastika and the final crisis of the legal multiverse--this one has it all.

In answer to all the questions that retailers -- and a few readers and certainly Beat readers have -- DC has sent out an FAQ on the relaunch/reboot/September to their retailer accounts, with a cover letter by Bob Wayne. It shows great insight into what people are squawking about and gives a good fact sheet on returnability, pricing, digital, and so on. Well be back later with analysis of all this.

DC has launched a subsite for their September relaunch, and at last it has a name The New 52. The site includes the video of DC execs promoting the launch which was widely circulated yesterday, as well as previews of the various titles. It also, as Comics Alliance slyly pointed out, hadn't been properly proofed, as when it went live it included earlier, Earth-4 versions of the creative teams on a number of books:

A Facebook page has sprung up to organize a protest march against the new awful designs of the new 52. It seems some folks don't like the new fresh DC designs that are all new:

Seeing as how it was somehow unearthed by Bleeding Cool, there is no way of knowing where this video featuring all of DC's major editorial players save Geoff John talking about the relaunch was created for. It's definitely aimed at consumers, but the actual venue we may never know. Or it may never have been released. The video shows Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, Eddie Berganza, Bob Harras, and special guest star Grant Morrison each uttering the word "new" about 30 times each. Our impressions is that they want us to know that this is a NEW initiative and a NEW way of doing things. It's NEW.

The DC reveals continue apace. Over the weekend, a beverage glass manufacturer Facebooked an image of their San Diego exclusive: a JLA tumbler that seems to reveal all 15 members of the nü JLA Identified thus far: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, Deadman, Atom, Element Woman, Firestorm, Green Arrow, Hawkman, and Mera. Element Woman is a new Jim Lee designed character from Flashpoint. However, the identity of the 15th character, a seemingly blonde woman on the right, remains a mystery.

In for a penny in for a pound: Despite bad reviews, and a 66 percent decline at the box office this weekend, Warner Bros. is still planning a sequel to Green Lantern, THR reports. A WB spokesman admits that the studio was "somewhat disappointed” with the box office, but they still believe in it as a franchise.

DC has cited its changes and additions to the Super-verse as grounds for reducing the Siegel heirs’s share of Superman material produced since 1999. A recent Variety article takes this even further, reporting thatNeil Gaiman’s success in winning co-ownership of Medieval Spawn provides legal precedent for giving DC complete ownership of the contemporary Superman, limiting the Siegels’ interest to the far less lucrative 1938 version of the character. Does DC have strong legal grounds for splitting Superman between The Man of Tomorrow and The Man of Yesterday? Click below to see if Gaiman v. McFarlane is legal kryptonite for creators' rights--or whether that's just another misconceived retcon.

Comics-savvy (aren't they all?) movie beat reporter Borys Kit has a succinct wrap-up, of lessons to be learned from the GREEN LANTERN experience. And they are many; a sequel -- already in the writing stages -- was supposed to have been greenlit if the film did over $60 million, but the $53 million opening and bad word of mouth may have stopped that. Kit suggests that comic book movies based on a singular vision tend to do better -- something GL did not have:

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.

The rejected Wonder Woman pilot, starring Adrianne Palicki as Wonder Woman, is making the rounds on the mysterious black market of such things in Hollywood. But until the omerta it is being supplied with is lifted, we'll have to do with these dribs and drabs. Thoughts: Palicki loooks fine. The costume looks okay. Maybe this could have worked?

Did Rich Johnston get burned on one of the most outrageous stories of the month? Or is DC really afraid of Superman saving kittens?