Good news for comics and Sci-Fi fans: Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, who’s no stranger to the world of comics having penned several titles for Marvel, will be taking over DC Comics’ Superman and Wonder Woman titles on an ongoing basis, starting in July.

According to the DC Comics Blog:

Starting in July with SUPERMAN #701 and WONDER WOMAN #601, superstar writer J. Michael Straczynski—a man who’s created layered and compelling characters and worlds on the big screen, on television and across the comic book spectrum—dives head-first into the DC Universe by taking the ongoing writing reins for two-thirds of the fabled DCU trinity.

Straczynski himself is very excited to take on these two iconic characters. According to the writer:

“For as long as I’ve been doing conventions (starting in the early Cretaceous period, when it was just me and a handful of pterosaurs on a panel debating whether or not mammals with opposable thumbs were really necessary to the writing of quality comics, a point still hotly debated today), there has always been the same question from folks in the audience: “Is there any one character who is your dream character to write for?” The answer has always been the same: Superman.

When I first came over to DC, that dream was realized in part by Dan DiDio’s gracious invitation to write the first of potentially many Superman original graphic novels. Now the dream has come fully true with the opportunity to write for the mainstream title, in a story that returns Superman to his roots in a way that will have the whole country talking about him in ways that we haven’t seen in a long time.

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This was a big week for news, especially of the comic book movie variety. Surprisingly, even with all that coming out we still have even more items worth talking about on the radar. Batman beats Superman…again, a Star Wars character makes a bid for a mascot job, MGM is still looking for money, Brian De Palma may get paranormal and what cities will Michael Bay reign destruction upon next?

Batman trumps Superman on the auction block

Looks like Batman wasn’t content with beating Superman at the box office, he had to do it at an auction as well. The 1939 first appearance of The Dark Knight sold for a whopping $1,075,500. This beats Superman’s first appearance in comics which sold for 1 million. Sorry, Supes…but, hey, you did land an awesome writer for your upcoming reboot.

Blockbuster struggles to remain relevant in the digital age

Video rental store Blockbuster continues an uphill battle to compete against digital alternatives.  The brick-and-mortar business reported a “$435 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $360 million in red ink in the year-ago frame. Revenue dropped 18% to $1.1 billion.” As companies like Netflix and Redbox continue to steal market share some believe Blockbuster has some merit left:

“The drying up of retail competition from the ongoing closures of most Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores; major studios aren’t making their new releases immediately available to Redbox; and Warner Bros. will begin a 28-delay before giving Netflix access to new-release DVDs.”

Personally, I don’t see a rebound at this point and beyond the legit competition Blockbuster still has piracy to content with. Is this the end? We’ll see.

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When writer David Goyer left his post as showrunner for TV’s Flashforward there were rumblings about what he was up to. At the time the most obvious answer  was that he was helping director Christopher Nolan with the third Batman script. At the same time, DC had confirmed Nolan would be helping to get the Superman franchise back on track.

Well, today all the pieces are falling into place as we learn Goyer has been hired to write the next Superman movie.  A source confirmed the news to Latino Review and gave a little indication of what we can expect:

“I can tell you that Goyer’s story involves Luthor and Brainiac.  It is NOT an origin and assumes audiences already know about Lois, Clark, Jimmy and Perry.  I know the Daily Planet is struggling due to the internet.  And I know it sets up a huge Kryptonian mythology.”

Some other points of interest are that Bryan Singer and Brandon Routh will probably not return. Also, the film may be called The Man of Steel instead of Superman: The Man of Steel.  Contrary to prior rumors Mark Millar will not be involved  from the sounds of it.

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Detective Comics #1. Amazing Fantasy #15. Captain America #1. All iconic issues that most true comic fans would give their left leg for. In some cases, maybe even the whole left side of their body. But as rare as these books are, only one stands above the pack as the ultimate issue for a collector to lay their hands on. Action Comics #1. While you can’t trade the left half of your body for it, you can apparently pick it up for a cool $1,000,000.

So how did this first appearance of Superman break comic sales records? Monday morning, comic auction website ComicConnect.com posted the a 8.0 graded, non-restored copy of the issue at 10:30 eastern time. Minutes later, the book was reported to a “well known individual” who has chosen to remain private.

John Dolmayan, drummer of System of a Down and owner of Torpedo Comics, once paid $317,000 for a lesser grade issue of Action Comics #1 for a customer of his. Talking about the book, Dolmayan said, “It’s considered by most people as the most important book… It kind of ushered in the age of the superheroes.” Take a second and think about what Dolmayan has said and imagine a world without Superman or any other superheroes at all.

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Every once in a while, we’ll get an opportunity to check out a new indie film from out of nowhere and get blown away by it. Sadly, this happens less often than we would like, but in this case, it was completely true.

We recently got to check out the short film The Legacy, written and directed by Mike Doto, about a boy who discovers that his father is the world’s greatest superhero. The film is, by all definitions of the word, fantastic. It captures some of the elements that made the original Superman films so great, without treading into campy territory.

With that in mind, we got a chance to sit down with the writer/director of the film, Mike Doto, about what it took to make the project, and where he goes from here.

The Flickcast: With a concept like The Legacy, what drove you to this idea? Were you a big comic fan growing up? If so, which books were you inspired by the most?

Mike Doto: For The Legacy I really wanted to get back to the roots of why I wanted to be a filmmaker to begin with. I feel like I grew up in a time when movies really connected with kids and I’ve never forgotten the impact that those films have had on me.

Most of these films starred a young protagonist that I could relate to quite easily, films such as E.T., Goonies, Wargames, D.A.R.Y.L., The Last Starfighter, and Back to the Future. What I’ve learned is that these weren’t just kid movies, these were movies for all ages, they appealed to the both the young and the young at heart.  So I thought about what movie I would have written when I was 10-years-old and I decided that I probably would have written a movie about being a superhero.

Superman was my boyhood hero so naturally that’s the hero I wanted to emulate.  In thinking further about the Superman story I decided that it would be more effective to write a film about the relationship between the father and the son since this is at the heart of the Superman character. I actually wasn’t a big comic book fan growing up. I was a huge fan of the Superman movies, but I didn’t really spend much time reading comics.

I would much rather dress up as a superhero or play with my action figures and imagine what that world would be like to live in. Even though a camera wasn’t rolling, I think this was the start of my filmmaking career although I didn’t realize it at the time.

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Yesterday, we showed you some of the cool new movie toys from this year’s Toy Fair at New York City’s Jacob Javits Center. Diamond came in with lots of new and exciting movie properties, but some of their coolest new toys were for their existing DC and Marvel lines.

Among the new toys we got to see were some cool new Marvel MiniMates for the upcoming Iron Man 2 film, including a neat Whiplash, Justin Hammer, and Stark Drones. Marvel Selects announced a gigantic new Abomination figure, as well as The Thing and others, each heavy enough to be used as a murder weapon.

From DC and Diamond, we got to see some cool new statues from the DC Dynamics line, the first ever line of Vertigo busts, and some great statues form the upcoming Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths film. Also from DC, we got to see some great new “then and now” style figures, including the original Superman vs his current incarnation.

Check out the full gallery after the jump, and be sure to keep it here for more upcoming news and features from the wonderful world of toys!

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This week marks a pretty big event for the gang over at Smallville as they encounter the Justice Society of America for the first time. Granted, this isn’t the first time other DC superheroes have made it onto the show, with characters like Green Arrow, Aquaman, Black Canary, and others joining in the fray from time to time. With all those characters making appearances in the past, there’s still something even more special about this week’s two-hour episode.

While this season has brought up some interesting plots including Braniac, the Legion, Metallo, and others, this coming event, written by Geoff Johns, seems to take the cake. From Kryptonsite:

A man named Sylvester Pemberton tracks down Chloe (Allison Mack) and tells her he knows about her team of superheroes and needs their help. However, before he can explain who he is, he is attacked and killed by Icicle (guest star Wesley Macinnes). Clark (Tom Welling) and Chloe’s (Allison Mack) investigation leads Clark to the former headquarters of the Justice Society of America where he meets up with Nelson AKA Dr. Fate (guest star Brent Stait), Carter Hall AKA Hawkman (guest star Michael Shanks) and Courtney AKA Star Girl (guest star Britt Irvin).

Courtney pleads with Hawkman and Dr. Fate to help her catch the killer that is targeting their group but they are reluctant to resume their duties as superheroes. Clark, John Jones (guest star Phil Morris), Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) and Chloe team up to help the JSA stop Icicle before he murders another member of the group. Meanwhile, Lois (Erica Durance) receives a package from a mysterious agency called Checkmate, run by Amanda Waller (guest star Pam Grier).

Check out two exclusive clips from Smallville: Absolute Justice and be sure to watch the entire two-hour event this Friday at 8/7 Central on the CW.

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With 2009 coming to a close, the challenge was to pick and rank the 10 best comics from the entire year. I’ve estimated reading approximately 1,500+ issues over that time frame, so obviously it wasn’t the easiest task to complete. Still, after much deliberation, these are my picks for the 10 best comics of 2009.

1. Jonah Hex #50
DC Comics
Writers: Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Originally reviewed on December 3, 2009

Perfection. Defined as the highest degree of proficiency, skill or excellence, perfection is near impossible to achieve, especially when every comic ever printed is subjective in nature. You know, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and all that jazz. Still, when I thought about all the comics I’ve read this past year, this issue of Jonah Hex kept coming back to me. While not perfect (frankly, what is?), it’s pretty close.

A wonderful done-in-one tale following our “hero” as he diligently goes about his day job, in this specific case while hunting down 50 various bad guys who had it coming to them. A fine story on it’s own. Now add a dash of romance – or the bounty hunter’s version of it – to the mix, sprinkle in a little personal vengeance, and top it off with a jolting reminder of how cruel life can be, and you’re left with a portrait of a man who makes no excuses for who he is or what he does, life expectations be damned.

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The Superman franchise continues to struggle as more details emerge from Warner Brothers.  In short, Warner Brothers still isn’t doing anything with the project. According to Warner Brothers insiders:

“The studio is still seeking the right direction. No writers are working on a Superman script. ‘We’re working on a strategy for DC,’ says one Warners exec. ‘Superman is the trickiest one to figure out.’ “

Still “seeking the right direction”? No writers? Tricky to figure out? How “tricky” can this be?  You only have several movies and hundreds of comics to draw inspiration from. Get it together Warner Brothers.

Now, there is the legal matter to deal with which is rather tricky. I can appreciate the fact WB wants these legalities with the Siegel Estate put to rest but seriously, get moving. Providing some indication that you’re actively developing a new movie could certainly help your case instead of simply squandering time.

Sadly, the only direction left for this property is the dreaded “r” word-reboot. Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns hardly met the studios expectations (but I for one liked it).  Having made $391 million worldwide it cost $232 million to make. Do the math and you can’t even compare that film to something like Christopher Nolan’s billion dollar Batman movie, The Dark Knight.

As we’ve noted on The Flickcast before the Siegel family will reclaim the Superman rights in 2013.  That means at a minimum film production has to start by 2011 (and that’s pushing it). The clock is ticking. Time to start moving faster than a speeding bullet Warner Brothers.

Smallville is a show that hasn’t really generated that much intense interest with with true fanboys in it’s 9 seasons, yet we are all pretty excited about the upcoming “Ultimate Justice” event, in which the Justice Society of America make an appearance on the show. We already got a brief look at Michael Shanks as Hawkman earlier last week, and now we get much more to salivate over.

The episode was originally called “Society,” but due to the magnitude of the story, has been stretched to a two-part event entitled “Ultimate Justice.” As well as Shanks, the rest of the guest cast is filled out by Brent Stait (Andromeda) as Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate, Britt Irvin (Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl), Phil Morris  as John Jones/Martian Manhunter, and Erica Carroll (Reunion) as Dr. Fate’s wife, Inza.

Check out the brand new preview clip of the episodes after the jump, in which we get a glimpse of the Green Lantern ring, the Sandman mask, Dr. Fate, and a really cool Justice Society “Last Supper” painting. The episode is set to air January 29th of 2010.

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