Author: Rick Marshall

Never one to miss a promotional tie-in, Marvel.com has posted a rundown of the publisher’s greatest moments in sports.

The "Marvelous Moments in Sports" roundup was clearly written before the big game, because it lacks the sorrowful tone one might expect from a post-game writeup by New England Patriots fan Ben Morse. In fact, it’s a pretty funny trip down memory lane, with bits like this one about a bicoastal game of softball played in the pages of Avengers:

EARTH’S MIGHTIEST SOFTBALL GAME (WEST COAST AVENGERS ANNUAL #2, AVENGERS ANNUAL #16—1987)

Picture the softball game at your annual company picnic between marketing and accounting, but then sub in Thor at cleanup, Captain America at pitcher and Hawkeye on the base paths—that’s what the Avengers and their West Coast branch were going for in the late ’80s during their one and only showdown on the diamond. It’s pretty easy to understand why they never gave it another shot when you consider that the cosmically empowered Grandmaster interrupted the game, killed half of each team and then forced the remainder to compete in battle for his amusement. The GM eventually resurrected the fallen Avengers, and Cap learned a valuable lesson as they resumed the game: Hawkeye cheats.

Spider-Man fans everywhere rejoiced when it was announced that the hero’s popular arch-enemy, Venom, was planned for the third big-screen installment of the "Spider-Man" film franchise. Unfortunately, the film failed to live up to expectations for most diehard Spidey (and Venom) fans. Recent reports regarding a potential Venom solo project could provide cause for celebration again.

IESB.net has confirmed that "a studio" is in talks with various movie writers to produce a film based upon the Venom character introduced in "Spider-Man 3".

The report cannot confirm which studio – or which writers – are involved in the discussion, but offers the following evaluation of the news:

Eight years ago, New Line Cinema held the theatrical rights to Venom. Since then, the rights have reverted back Marvel. But does Sony have complete control over the character since he was a part of Spidey 3 or does Marvel control the rights to the character with Sony only having distribution rights?

We have to assume that since there is movement and there has been recent meetings with writers this property must belong to Marvel since they have made an interim agreement with the WGA and proceed to develop projects during the current strike. Either way, one thing is for certain, Venom will get a second shot at the big screen.

Journalista calls out this two-part series on Bunny, The Queen of the In-Crowd, and other late-1960s attempts by Harvey Comics to market stories to hip teenagers.

With all of the hype surrounding publishers attempts (or lack thereof) to market comics to a female audience, the Bunny retrospective provides an interesting look at an early attempt to court a different group of potential readers.

During the Swingin’ Sixties, Harvey comics jumped on a bandwagon and produced their own version of an ‘Archie’ knock-off marketed towards teen-age readers.

Bunny was a happening young super-model, "The Queen of the In-Crowd", who ran with her own pack of groovy and fashionable friends.

(Click here for Part One, Part Two)

Just in case you haven’t been getting enough Star Wars in your diet lately, Lucasfilm has debuted a new character for the upcoming "Stars Wars: The Clone Wars" animated series.

The new character’s name is "Ahsoka Tano," and the Lucasfilm site has this to say about her:

This young Togruta is eager to prove herself as a worthy Padawan to her bold Master, Anakin Skywalker. Able to wield a lightsaber and pilot a spacecraft with great talent, Ahsoka promises to become a worthy Jedi.

(Hat tip to Cinematical!)