COMIC INDUSTRY NEWS
DC COMICS LAUNCHES CMX, A NEW MANGA IMPRINT IN OCTOBER
DC COMICS LAUNCHES CMX, A NEW MANGA IMPRINT IN OCTOBER
COMICS LEGEND JULIUS SCHWARTZ - 1915-2004
Comics legend Julie Schwartz passed away Sunday morning at 2:30 am at Winthrop Hospital in New York. He had suffered complications related to his recent battle with pneumonia. He was 88 years old.
September 26, 2003 DC UNVEILS UPCOMING HARDCOVER COLLECTED EDITIONS
BILL WILLINGHAM SIGNS TWO-YEAR EXCLUSIVE WITH DC COMICS
Bill Willingham, creator of the critically acclaimed VERTIGO series FABLES creator and Eisner-nominated writer, has signed a two-year exclusive agreement with DC Comics.
"I'm obviously pleased that DC has shown this faith in me, first to make me such a generous offer and then to (eventually) agree to all of the unreasonable demands in my counter offer," says Willingham. "I promise I'll return the Time Warner jet with all stewardesses more or less intact and a full tank of gas."
"As far as my upcoming projects from both Vertigo and the DCU go, I'll simply promise that there are some fun stories on the way over the next two years," Willingham adds. "Of course, FABLES will continue to be among those books."
"Bill reinvented the modern fairy tale with FABLES -- turning it into one of the most-talked about new series this year," says VP Executive Editor Karen Berger. "As with PROPOSITION PLAYER before it, Bill has shown that when he hedges his bets, it really pays off. We're thrilled to have a writer of his caliber totally in our clutches."
Holy Moley! New Line Options Shazam!
Could 'Captain Marvel' Join The Glut of Other Superheroes On The Big Screen?
The December 5th issue of Variety reported that New Line Cinema is teaming with fellow Time/Warner company DC Comics to create a feature film based on the classic comic book character Shazam!. Michael Uslan, a veteran producer with credits from Warner Brothers Batman films, is slated as the executive producer of the new film, which is based on the 60-year-old comic title. Originally published by Fawcett in Whiz Comics in 1940, Captain Marvel was created by writer Bill Parker and artist C.C. Beck, who crafted one of the most popular creations of comic's Golden Age in the story of a puny, homeless newsboy (Billy Batson), who could transform himself into a muscular superhero simply by saying the word "Shazam" (an acronym for the ancient heroes, Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury).
While DC's Paul Levitz told Variety, "We're pleased to be developing one of the gems of our library with one of our sister companies," he didn't mention the twisted history of the character, which involved a lengthy and bitter lawsuit between Captain Marvel publisher Fawcett and DC Comics. DC felt that Captain Marvel was too close in conception to Superman, and sued Fawcett. The lawsuit dragged on for over a decade until Fawcett decided, largely due to low sales, to cease publication of Captain Marvel in 1953 and ended the lawsuit by agreeing never to publish the title again. Repercussions of the suit included the Hypen in Spider-Man and the fact that none of the intitial Marvel heroes could fly on their own. In the 1970s DC Comics purchased the entire stable of dormant Fawcett superheroes, but by this time Marvel comics was already going strong, so DC was forced to revive the character under the name of the wizard who cave him his powers, Shazam! As the name Captain Marvel was already being used by Marvel Comics. The character enjoyed brief popularity in the 70's, with a live action TV show that had Billy Batson traveling the country in a Winebago. After running for five years, DC abandoned the character as he never really regained the popularity that he enjoyed in the 40's and 50's. There were several sporadic attempts to revive the Big Red Cheese, including an 80s mini-series and an ill-fated stint with the JLA. DC has published three volumes of the Shazam Archives, and has a Jeff Smith Shazam series in the pipe. Of course, whether this movie actually makes it to the screen remains to be seen.
These days so many comic book properties seem to be "in development" as a major, big budget film, it is easy to lose track of the ones that somehow don't make it. One of those was J.Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell's Danger Girl. The once hugely popular and always late comic series was originally in development as a feature film at New Line Cinema. Apparently as the series faded from the minds of comic fans, so did it also fade from the importance with Hollywood execs.
