Comic book writer Harvey Pekar, whose autobiographical comic series American Splendor was made into a 2003 Oscar nominated film starring Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis, has been found dead in his Ohio home. He was 70.

Cleveland Heights, OH police Capt. Michael Cannon said officers were called to Pekar’s home by his wife Joyce Brabner about 1 A.M. Monday. Cannon said Pekar had been suffering from prostate cancer, asthma, high blood pressure and depression. Coroner’s spokesman Powell Caesar said an autopsy will be performed to determine final cause of death, although foul play was not suspected.

Pekar’s American Splendor comics, which he began publishing in 1976, chronicle his observations on work, love, money and life’s daily grind. The comic was done with stories from dozens of artists over the years in a wide variety of styles and was first illustrated by renonwed underground artist R. Crumb.

However, with each successive style, the voice remained the same: that of a witty, wry, observant man who’s study of human nature and the minutia of life through his own shortcomings never ceased to entertain and enlighten.

In addition to his writing, he was known for his appearances on Late Night With David Letterman. Check out his last appearance on the show after the break.

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A new report from comScore on U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share reveals some interesting statistics for both domestic cell- and smart-phone users. For fans of Google’s open-source Android Platform, the good news is that Android is continuing to grab ever-larger shares of the U.S. smartphone market. With the sheer number of outrageously great Android-based smartphones being released in 2010, it makes sense that devices based on Google’s OS would jump a healthy 4.0% over the previous period.

Over 234 million Americans age 13 and older are currently using mobile devices and comScore’s report ranked mobile equipment manufacturers (OEMs), smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers, and finally mobile content usage (how mobile device owners used their devices).

In terms of top manufacturers of mobile devices, manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 22.4 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up one percentage point from the preceding three month period. LG ranked second with 21.5 percent share, followed by Motorola (21.2 percent share), RIM (8.7 percent share, up 0.5 percentage point) and Nokia (8.1 percent share).

Of all mobile device users, 49.1 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in May, up 8.1 percent from the corresponding February period. RIM, with their business-friendly Blackberry phones was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 41.7 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.4 percent share and Microsoft with 13.2 percent.

Google saw significant growth during the period, up 4.0 percentage points to capture 13.0 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Palm rounded out the top five with 4.8 percent. Despite losing share to Google Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow.

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It goes without saying most genre fans enjoyed Edward Norton’s Incredible Hulk. At least, we enjoyed it far more than when Ang Lee or Bill Bixby had a crack at it. The film did moderately well in the box office, considering how much of the year was dominated by Marvel’s other film, Iron Man. Now it seems that Norton and Marvel will be parting ways, as they’ll be recasting the jade giant for The Avengers.

In a report by Hitfix, they announced Marvel is starting to shop around for a new Hulk for Joss Whedon’s upcoming superhero team flick. In direct response to their article, President of Production at Marvel, Kevin Feige, put out a statement.

We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in the Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.

Given the size of the production and cast, this decision probably made sense as far as Marvel was concerned. However, Edward Norton may have other ideas, at least according to his agent.

In a direct response, Norton’s Agent Brian Swardstrom of WME, said:

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Animated films are having a pretty stellar summer. This weekend, Toy Story 3 just became the highest grossing Pixar film of all time (surpassing Finding Nemo.)   Illumination Entertainment just released their first film, Despicable Me, and cleaned up at the box office.  Despicable made over $60 Million during its opening weekend, earning the distinction of being the highest opening weekend for an animated film not made by Pixar or Dreamworks.  Just like that, we have some serious competition for the animation studios.   Not too bad for a movie with no built in audience.

Illumination spent about $69 Million for the animation in Despicable Me, which is well beneath the average for a Dreamworks or Pixar film.  The film enjoyed a healthy “A” cinemascore rating by exiting audience members, which typically indicates long legs and good word of mouth.  Despite the fact that the movie played in 3D, it was limited in its amount of theaters, because Toy Story and The Last Airbender are both still playing in quite a few 3D venues.  There is no doubt that Despicable take would have been higher had it been able to capitalize on more 3D screens.

Twilight: Eclipse was bumped down to the number two spot this week.  It had about a 48% drop from opening weekend, typical of the franchise that is historically heavily front-loaded.   It still managed to make about $33 Million, hardly a number to scoff at.  This brings the 12 day total to $237 Million, which is pretty astounding, and topped the total for New Moon in the same time period ($235 Million.)

Predators scared up a decent $25 Million over the weekend.  With a modest budget of $40 Million, this bodes well for the film. Toy Story 3 nabbed the fourth spot with $22 Million.  Its four week total is $340 Million.

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Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are so popular they are starting to consume more and more time. People flock to them to update their status, communicate with friends and generally let the world know the ins and outs of their daily lives. It’s hard to believe Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg knew what he was starting back in the day but whatever he thought, I would bet the success of Facebook has surpassed even his wildest estimations.

If success means you end up having a movie made about your life and the social networking site you founded with a few friends, then check Zuckerberg off the list, he’s made it. David Fincher’s The Social Network tells the story of the founding of Facebook and the trails and tribulations associated with something that got very big very fast.

In it Zombieland‘s Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg and soon-to-be-Spider-Man Andrew Garfield plays co-founder Eduardo Severin. Plus, the film also features Rashida Jones, Josheph Mazello and Justin Timberlake. To help get you ready for the film, we’ve got a new teaser to share with you today, so click through to check it out.

The Social Network hits theaters on October 1st. What do you guys think? Are you interested in a movie about the founding of Facebook?

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The last piece of the puzzle has been released and we now have the complete schedule for San Diego Comic-Con. Now that Sunday is out of the bag, planning can really begin and we cans tart figuring out what we can and can’t see.  Like the previous days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sunday brings more stuff for us to want to see and be envious of those who will get to see it. Oh well, the trick is just to have fun, so we will.

Some of the highlights of Sunday include the Smallville screening and Q&A, the Castle panel, the women of Marvel panel, panels from Archaia comics and Wildstorm, the DC Town Hall, the FX panel featuring Sons of Anarchy, the Glee panel and a whole lot more. Sunday is also kid’s day so look for lots of programming and events geared to the Con’s younger attendees.

Click through for the complete Sunday schedule. Be sure to check back right here at The Flickcast for all your San Diego Comic-Con 2010 news needs. Plus, don’t forget to keep an eye out for more details on our awesome event on Saturday during the Con. You won’t want to miss it.

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I Am Love opens with a flurry, as the expertly-trained uniformed staff of an haute-bourgeoisie Milanese manufacturing family prepare for the Christmas season birthday of the leonine patriarch. The family members arrive, each magnificently attired (this being Milan, after all), and the soup (soup playing a crucial part in this film) is ladled from the giant silver tureen.

The great patriarch is ill and soon to die, and in a moment straight out of Greek mythology or Shakespeare, announces to the assembled his choice of successor to the family’s fortune-making textile plants: his middle-aged son Tancredi, who already wears the polished respectability of a titan of industry. It is in Tancredi’s sophisticated, museum-like mansion that the party is taking place and his elegant wife Emma (played by the stunning and absolutely amazing Tilda Swinton, who also produced the film) who is responsible for the clockwork orchestrations of the household.

But there is more, a surprise. For there will be not one but two successors, not only Tancredi but also one of Tancredi and Emma’s three children, the delicate and highly emotional Edoardo.

The stage has been set, brilliantly. Let the drama begin.

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Another day, another piece of the San Diego Comic-Con 2010 schedule puzzle is revealed. Today, the folks who run the Con have graced us with the Saturday schedule and like the previous days, Friday and Thursday, it’s got a lot of stuff we want to see but probably won’t end up getting to. Still, we can dream — and try our best.

Some of the stuff we are looking forward to seeing on Saturday include the Chuck screening and Q&A, the Family Guy panel, Warner Bros.’ Green Lantern, Sucker Punch, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows panels, Futurama, the Community Cast and Creative Team panel, Fringe and Warehouse 13 panels, the Comic-Con Masquerade sponsored by HBO’s True Blood and so much more.

Plus, we will be having an event on Saturday as well in the late afternoon. More details on that soon but rest assured, it will be cool and you will want to be there.

Click through for the full Saturday schedule, as of today. Be sure to check back right here at The Flickcast for more San Diego Comic-Con coverage than you can possibly handle.

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Often events happen that we can’t get to cover extensively or at all. This year that dubious honor fell on Anime Expo in Los Angeles. As much as we might have wanted to go there and show you everything from the expo we have Comic-Con to plan for and that has to take presidence.

Fortunately, we’ve got friends. And one of those friends, SamProof, went to the expo and shot a lot of video, cut it together and we’ve got it for you today. We think it captures the essence of Anime Expo and helps us get over (mostly) the fact that we couldn’t be there this year.

Check out the video after the jump. For more from our pal SamProof, head on over to his site.

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Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• A fan-made alternate ending to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has surfaced. Michael Bay would love this one.

• Of course there is a real life Kick-Ass, and he prefers to be called “The Viper”.

• Kevin Bacon is allegedly in talks to be the main villain in X-Men: First Class. No word on who he’ll play, we just hope it’s not the same character he played in The Woodsman.

• Just in case you weren’t excited enough for The Expendables, here’s an 8-bit video game to keep you occupied.

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It takes a lot to make me sympathize with  arms dealers, especially the ruthless and pure evil ones, but Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s relentlessly whimsical and quirky Micmacs very nearly succeeds. The movie opens promisingly enough, with a beautifully shot (by Tetsuo Nagata) prologue high in style and speed. As a child Bazil is effectively orphaned when his soldier father is killed in war and his mother driven mad by grief.

The bad luck continues for the adult Bazil (played by Dany Boon), when a stray bullet plants itself in his forehead in such a way as to be unremoveable. Bazil subsequently loses job and home and falls into a quaint period of homelessness that is a loving homage to Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp, and acts, in retrospect, almost as an idyll before the high energy escapades to come.

The idyll comes to an end when Bazil is adopted into a motley “family” of strenuously eccentric misfits, a veritable Coney Island freak show of oddball skills and personalities who live peaceably in one of those hyper-elaborate Mad Max/Matrix/Terry Gilliamesque junkyard baroque / steampunk fantasias. It looks exactly as  though it was created over many months of hard labor by an army of movie set dressers, and no doubt was.

Soon enough Bazil learns that the land mine that killed his father and the bullet that shattered his head were produced by rival arms manufacturers whose gothic headquarters—holy cinematic coincidence!—just happen to be located across the street from each other. Thus he and the rest of the Micmac family—having, apparently, absolutely nothing else to do with their days but invent wind-up Rube Goldberg toys from junkyard bits and pieces—embark on a shaggy dog campaign of revenge… and this time, it’s personal.

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With Stargate Universe and Merlin having their season finales it’s time to turn our attention to two other shows airing on Syfy. One, Eureka, is a returning show coming back for another season and the second, Haven, makes its debut tonight.

In support of these two shows we will do what we usually do and bring you previews for both of them so you can get ready for tonight’s episodes. First up on Eureka, the gang is back and starting the 4th season with a twist. Also, a brand new cast member joins the show and we’re pretty excited about it. That’s right, James Callis (Battlstar Galactica‘s Baltar) comes to Eureka to shake things up this season.

Next up is Haven, which is based on The Colorado Kid from author Stephen King. It follows FBI agent Audrey Parker who arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine to solve the murder of a local ex-con. However, things are not what they seem and Audrey soon discovers the people of Haven are hiding a dark secret.

Check out previews for both shows after the break. Eureka airs tonight at 9/8C followed by Haven at 10/9C only on Syfy.

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