Author: Robert Greenberger

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.

Greg Goldstein, newly named COO for number four comics publisher IDW has been working in and around the comics field since joining Topps in 1983.  Since then, he has worked for trading card and video game companies, always wheeling and dealing, building a deep network of friends and contacts.

Greg and I have known each other since 1980 when we first met while attending SUNY-Binghamton.  Our paths next crossed when he wound up at Topps Comics and we have continued to work in the same field ever since.

As a result, Greg was more than comfortable in chatting about his new position despite barely setting up his new offices.

CMix: It’s been a long road from SUNY-Binghamton, from Topps to IDW.  What’s a COO do anyway?

Greg Goldstein: It varies from company to company— here at IDW I will be managing the day to day to operations and helping launch new products. Ted Adams, our CEO and my boss, will then be better able to focus more on new strategic initiatives for the company.

CMix: IDW is the first real publisher you’ve worked at since Topps Comics.  How do you see the comic book field change over those years?

GG: Call me Rip Van Goldstein. Seriously, the more things change, the more they remain the same. I think awareness and positive energy for comic books has never been higher — our mission is how to translate that enthusiasm directly into sales. The paradox of our business is that consumers spent more money on “comic book” films this past summer than ever before, but sales of many titles themselves are down.

On the production side of course, we were just beginning to utilize digital in the Topps Comics days. Today, it is the standard. This means less, lots less, FedEx deliveries with artwork each day, if at all.

And of course, we were only beginning to understand the impact of GN’s and TPBs in the early 90s. It’s great to be able to give classic material a whole new life in today’s marketplace. Much of that wasn’t possible back in the Topps days because of different set of economics.

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Astro Boy was the first Japanese cartoon brought to America and paved the way for all other anime and Manga that followed.  Created for Japanese comics in 1952 by Osamu Tezuka, the robot took flight in 193 animated episodes beginning in 1959.  Some 103 were translated into English for American television and played throughout the 1960s as Astro Boy since NBC executives thought Mighty Atom; the more literal translation was too generic.

Ever since, he has remained an icon of Japanese culture and has been revived numerous times. Imagi Studios is producing a CGI version of  Astro Boy and Summit Entertainment has announced that it will open on October 23, 2009, on a whopping will 3,000 North American.

With a release of this scope, it’s no surprise that the movie will be supported with a plethora of merchandise such as toys, games, and books. 

The new film, directed by David Bowers (Flushed Away) from a screenplay by Timothy Harris (Places), features Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) as the voice of Astro Boy, along with Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy, Nicolas Cage and Donald Sutherland.