Category: News

Watch how we seamlessly blend three items from last week, add a bit of comics history, and… but we’re getting ahead of things.

Last week, we had Grant Morrison talking about the new Batman & Robin series he’ll be doing with Frank Quitely, discussing (among other things) a new Robin. We also saw lnks to fan images as to whatever happened to Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes now that he’s older, with one sweet image and one… not so sweet. (Incidentally, I think the girl’s name is Berkeley. No, not Breathed.)

This puts me in mind of what happened the last time we replaced Robin. I was working in the production department at DC during the time of Batman: A Death in the Family , which took Jason Todd out. And at the time, there was a tradition in production of taking that day’s Calvin and Hobbes strip, xeroxing it larger, having Bob LeRose color it, and posting it on the bulletin board.

And Steven Bové wondered what they were going to do about the new Robin. And one idea led to another, and he drew a little something. And then it got passed around the rest of the department with everybody contributing, and a minor masterpiece was born.

So here, with pencils and inks from Steven Bové, inks by Jerry Acerno, letters by John Workman, and colors by me after the late great Bob LeRose:

This will portend some of the major changes in media this year– including the comics, newspapers and magazines you read and the TV and movies you watch.

The Nielsen Company reported today that U.S. advertising for the full year 2008 was down 2.6% compared to the full year 2007. According to preliminary figures from Nielsen, U.S. ad expenditures declined almost $3.7 billion to a total spend of $136.8 billion in 2008.

Newspapers saw the deepest cuts in 2008 with national down 9.6% and local down 10.2%.  Local Sunday supplements were down 11%. Magazines didn’t do much better, dropping 7.6% nationally and 3.7% locally. Only two categories are up: Cable TV by 7.8%, and Hispanic Cable TV by 9.6%.

Among the biggest ad spenders, Time Warner cut its spending by 23.7% last year, Chrysler spending was down by 31.2%, Ford down by 28.5%, and GM down by 14.9%. All of them are heavy advertisers on science fiction and action-adventure shows like Heroes.  Motion picture advertising dropped $3.3 billion from $3.75 billion, an -11.4% drop– and again, very likely to be advertising on genre shows. Only two of the major categories saw increases last year: Direct Response products were up by 9.2% and fast food restaurants were up by 3.8%.

Cable was the highest CPM-based revenue-generating medium with $26.6 billion in sales. Internet advertising, not including paid search, text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger apps, partnership advertising, email campaigns or in-house advertising activity, dropped by 6.4% in 2008– but with that much excluded, it’s a tougher number to calculate.

Lock up the kids, we’re digging out the grown up stuff with a look at the history of Erotic Comics, plus the 5 cool things in the comic shop this week, Ed Brubaker’s next move and the heroics of Steve Martin.

PRESS THE BUTTON to Get The Point!       
 

For the first time, a Joss Whedon character will be appearing in a major adventure outside of the Whedonverse when Peter David and J.K. Woodward relaunch Fallen Angel this summer from IDW Publishing.

When we asked Peter how he got this crossover to happen, he said "It was actually very complicated. I went up to Joss at the San Diego Comic-Con and asked him. He said ‘Yes’. After that, it was just a case of working out the rights with Fox."

The story is set during the fifth season of Angel, right after the episode "Time Bomb" where Illyria loses much of her powers. Devastated over the loss, a member of the Hierarchy appears and offers to make Illyria all that she was again. And all she has to do is go to the city of Bete Noire, the city that runs the world, and kill the Fallen Angel.

Peter mentioned that the series is going to be an excellent point for new readers to try out the series, as he suspects there will be a lot of readers who will be introduced to the world of the Fallen Angel for the first time.

I, of course, am just wondering how many Angel puns are going to work their way in.

A copy of Action Comics #1, featuring the first appearance of Superman, was bought at auction for $317,200 on Friday, after 88 prior bids. The CGC FN: 6.0 book was sold through ComicConnect.com and its parent site, Metropolis Collectibles.

There are two neat extra tidbits to this story, according to the AP story:

1. The winning bid for the book was submitted Friday evening by John Dolmayan, drummer for the rock band System of a Down, who is also a dealer of rare comic books. (He bought it for a client.)
   
2. The man who had previously owned the book purchased it in a secondhand store in the early 1950s when he was nine years old… for 35 cents. AAAAAAAAAGH!

Lunacon 2009 will be taking place this coming weekend, March 20-22, at the Hilton Rye Town in Rye Brook, New York.

Pre-registration is closed and the hotel is already sold out, but it’s still looking like it’ll be a great show. ComicMix contributors Bob Greenberger, Jean Krevor, Amy Goldschlager, Kim Kindya, Alexandra Honigsberg, Dennis McCunney, Aaron Rosenberg, Jenifer Rosenberg, Andrew Wheeler, and yours truly are all program participants, along with guests of honor Dave Freer, Larry Dixon, Mercedes Lackey, and Eric Flint.

We hope to see you there.

Oh, and yes– Wally Wood did the logo for the convention. Ain’t that neat?

Mark Ryan will join former Robin of Sherwood mate Jason Connery at CUT! Film Festival 2009 for a screening to celebrate the show’s 25th Anniversary and a discussion about the show’s loyal fan base. Ryan will also sit on a Comics panel with Mike Grell, with whom he partnered to create The Pilgrim. CUT! Film Festival 2009 is a benefit and celebration of cinema dedicated to the art and imagination that goes into the creation of film. This year’s event takes place the weekend of March 14-15, 2009 at the historic Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, CA.

WHEN: March 14, 2009:
· 11:20 am – “Comics and the Impact On Film Today” – Mike Grell, Steve Niles, Mark Ryan, Daniel Vest
· 6:45 pm – Celebrating “Robin of Sherwood” 25th Anniversary with Mark Ryan, Jason Connery & other guests TBA – Screening of episode: Sheriff of Nottingham plus a charity auction.

“Robin of Sherwood” has enjoyed a loyal fan base that keeps the show alive via web groups, fan clubs and conventions both in America and the U.K. Mark, of course, has had a successful career since his days as a merry man, including voicing Bumblebee in the box office hit, “Transformers” and partnering with legendary illustrator, Mike Grell to create The Pilgrim graphic novel. Ryan recently launched a musical project nearly 20 years in the making, based on Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights,” which he plans to bring to the big screen soon and is currently available on iTunes. He has also signed on with Mighty Finn Productions for 3 upcoming projects including “Robbing Bingo,” which will reunite Ryan with Sherwood cast mate, Ray Winstone (Beowulf.) Ryan will pull triple duty on the film as Associate Producer, Actor & Action Coordinator.

Kristen Bell may be about to learn how the extreme always seems to make an impression– by possibly starring in the musical adaptation of the darkly beloved 1988 cult classic Heathers, according to Eonline.

Kevin Murphy and Andy Fickman, part of the team behind the stage and teleplay edition of Reefer Madness is manning the film’s under-the-radar transition to the stage, with readings of the material taking place this week. Bell is taking the Winona Ryder-originated role of Veronica in the rehearsals, with her Reefer Madness co-star Christian Campbell playing Christian Slater’s role of J.D., according to the Hollywood Reporter.

While the actors aren’t locks to go with their characters when the show makes its Broadway debut, they are likely candidates to keep their gigs if they’re available.

And just to tie it back yet again to comics, did you know that Daniel Waters, the writer of Heathers, also wrote the screenplay for Batman Returns? Small world.