Author: Robert Greenberger

A lot has been speculated this week after Rich Johnston reported in Lying in the Gutters that the real reason 20th-Century Fox sued Warner Bros. over Watchmen was so they could settle and gain the rights once and for all to release the Batman television series on DVD.

Many casual readers nodded their heads and muttered, “sure, that makes sense.”

TV Shows on DVD does a nice analysis on all the rights issues surrounding the 1966-1968 series and its 120 episodes.  In addition to DC Comics and 20th, they review that musicians, costumers and even Batmobile designer George Barris may be entitled to shares that the studios are loath to pay out.  We recommend the article.
 

IESB reports that Michael Peña (The Lucky Ones) has been approached to appear in The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogan and Stephen Chow, with Chow now on board to direct the 2010 feature.  He told the site that Rogen is still at work on the script and the pair will also costar in April 2009’s Observe and Report due out April 2009.
 

The Cartoon Network has scheduled the first cable airing of the direct-to-DVD Gotham Knight feature for October 4 at 9 p.m.  The six intertwined stories are set between the events of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, introducing themes and story threads plus appearances by Killer Croc and Deadshot.  The video received mixed reviews and did so-so business.

Meantime, the network is also continuing to promote the October 3 debut of Star Wars: The Clone Wars by organizing 2000 in-home viewing parties. House Party, a viral marketer, has selected the homes to enjoy the experience this Saturday night and people can check their website where the hosts will report on the activities and reception to the screening.
 

Baltimore Comic-Con’s panel schedule went up first thing this morning and among the highlights will be Scott Kurtz, Danielle Corsetto, Scott Sava discussing webcomics, the first presentation from Disney’s Kingdom Comics, the must-see Kirkman vs. Bendis:  The Future of Comics, Jose Villarrubia honoring his good friend, living legend, and Guest of Honor, Bernie Wrightson, plus an hour of Howard Chaykin and Adam Hughes no doubt talking girls and art.

The major publishers will all have their usual assortment of highlight panels plus the presentation of the Harvey Awards.

The full schedule can be found at http://www.comicon.com/baltimore/.  ComicMix will have weekend-long coverage.

In a press release today, Virgin Comics annnounces it has been transformed into Liquid Comics:

"Liquid Comics has completed the management buyout of Virgin Comics led by the founding management team of Gotham Chopra, Sharad Devarajan and Suresh Seetharaman. Liquid Comics will continue to develop innovative digital, film, animation, and gaming projects for its original character, stories and other properties.

"Commenting on the change, Sharad Devarajan said, ‘Virgin Group has been a fantastic partner with whom to work and together we have established a strong foundation of great character properties and media partnerships. We remain fully committed to continuing our mission to provide a home for innovative creators and storytellers across the world.’

Virgin Group senior vice president of corporate development Dan Porter added, ‘The management team has a track record of great relationships with artists and media partners. Under this new ownership structure, the company is well positioned for future growth in the rapidly changing global comic space. As Virgin Group focuses on its core activities in North America, we wish them well in building their exciting business’

Founded in 2005, Virgin Comics is a character entertainment company that has forged partnerships with Warner Brothers, New Regency, Sony Online Entertainment, Sci Fi Channel, Studio 18, UTV and others. Under the new Liquid Comics name, the management team plans to proceed with a number of the projects previously announced as Virgin Comics and will make announcements shortly regarding those projects and the restructured launch dates."

At present, the website merely has a digital version of one of their titles and their press release.

Over at the comics blog of the Los Angeles Times, Geoff Boucher wrote, "I exchanged e-mails this morning with Gotham Chopra (who is the son of author Deepak) and he told me about some other things coming up that I will be able to share with you soon. Essentially, though, my sense is that he, publisher Sharad Devarajan and their team have lost the corporate backing of Branson’s sprawling Virgin empire (which is grappling with the grim financial realities of the day) but that they were in comic-book  business before they had Branson as a partner and they will solider now without the British conglomerate."

By relocating operations to Los Angeles, they can more closely follow the film development of properties already optioned while regrouping.