BOOM! finally made their teased-out Stan Lee announcement yesterday morning. And despite calls from 1000+ reporters, my 87-years-young friend stopped by to answer a few questions. Briefly.

Cliff: Were the characters and back stories for the new POW-BOOM joint venture actually created by you?

Stan: Yep!

Cliff: Do you still think it’s important for a hero’s alter ego to have an Achilles heel?

Stan: Yep… Usually.

Cliff: At what stage are you at with the projects that you’re doing with Walt Disney Studios?

Stan: All different stages. Script. Development. Production.

Cliff: When I was with IDT Entertainment, you shared a letter with us that you received from Paul McCartney pitching you a character. How often do you get pitches from fellow celebs?

Stan: Occassionally. An average of three or four a year.

Cliff: Now that you’re hitting middle age, do you have any intention of slowing down?

Stan: Not if I can help it! Excelsior!

Visit author Clifford Meth at thecliffordmethod.blogspot.com.

The 2006 Minneapolis Aquatennial – an annual festival held
every July – had some unexpected visitors. A group of seven zombies (in this
case, people dressed as zombies with makeup to help them appear to be the
walking dead) went through the shopping zone and shambled around in protest of
blatant consumerism – and what’s a zombie to do? It must be tough to try and
subside on canned pork brains when there are so many healthy, living humans
buying hoodies at the local Urban Outfitters.

Regardless, many shoppers were nonplussed by the shenanigans
of these civilly disobedient zombies, and though there were no injuries,
someone called 911. Apparently (according to the article at startribune.com)
the responding officers approached the small group of zombies – which were not
numerous enough to really be called a horde – and asked them to stay clear of
bystanders and refrain from broadcasting music or offers of brains. It seems
that these peaceful zombies agreed, and decided to go watch a high school drum
show. According to reports, the Minneapolis police later became concerned about
the possibility that the zombies were actually members of a dangerous gang from
Washington State (no word on whether they are from a town called Forks or if
they sparkle) and went to relocate the zombies and ID them.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with zombies, some of
them were not carrying identification, and they were arrested and detained for
two days. Feeling that their first amendment rights had been violated. A judge
ruled in favor of the police, and the group of zombies appealed. The appellate
court has now ruled that the group had a right to express themselves, and that
the police did not clearly define the charge of disorderly conduct to suit the
situation. The plaintiffs are seeking $50,000 each for their ordeal, and the
City Attorney has stated that she is preparing for the battle, though she made
no mention of a cricket stick or a flamethrower.

The Star Tribune article states that the Minneapolis police
are not returning requests for comment on this story. I think it is safe to
speculate that this case may have been the reason I was unable to get a reply about
the city’s zombie preparedness when I was researching urban zombie response plans
last summer. However, it seems that much of the city is just fine with the idea
of zombies in their neighborhood.

Minneapolis has a thriving zombie scene, full of exciting
nightlife for the undead. In fact, the Zombie Pub Crawl originated there in
October of 2005, and last year’s event boasted upward of 6,000 “undead”
participants stumbling from bar to bar and imbibing spirits. Minneapolis is
also home to it’s own zombie theme bar, Donnie Dirk’s Zombie Den, where the
staff all dress as Shaun of the Dead and there is a chainsaw behind glass in
case of zombie emergencies. I tried to reach the proprietors, but apparently
the establishment is closed on Mondays. No doubt there will be plenty of
zombies enjoying the “happy horror” in weeks to come as this zombie victory is
celebrated.

(Art by Doug Savage.)

• The New York Review of Science Fiction Readings presents L. A. Banks and Tobias Buckell at the SoHo Gallery for Digital Art, 138 Sullivan Street in NYC. $5 suggested donation.

  They also wanted to make sure that if you didn’t make it to the WW3 Illustrated opening because of the Snowpocalypse, that the event is still on display until the 13th.

• He’s too humble to promote it himself, but our own Marc Alan Fishman will be performing at Stand-Up Comics, 3429 Ridge Road, Lansing, IL tonight at 8 PM. Ask him about the thing he does with the strawberry jam and the gargoyle statue.
• And representing Brooklyn:
  

And what’s really cool about it? You can’t see it, but he’s also wearing web-shooters and a Legion Flight Ring.

Hat tip: Retcon Punch.

Savvy interweb surfer types may have noticed the viral campaign that hit the web last week; The stark white text on black background declaring that ‘Stan’s Back!”. Clicking it brought them no more information, rather, just a quick detour to a larger version of the ad. But, we here at ComicMix are glad to inform you just what’s going on.

Stan “The Man” Lee is returning to the industry he helped shape! That’s right. The creator of a few lesser known characters you may have heard of (The Incredible Hulk
ring a bell? No? The Fantastic Four? Still nothing? How about Spider-Man? The X-Men…?) is coming back to comics with a bang! Or more appropriatley… a BOOM! Stan Lee’s POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment, Inc. has teamed up with Boom! Studios to announce the release of three superhero titles slated to hit stands later this year.

Word around the campfire is that the Incorruptable and Irredeemable Mark Waid will helm one book, with a promise of 2 more “A-Listers” to be brought on under Stan’s forthcoming imprint. Shortly after hearing that news, we had to catch our breath. When we got back to the campsite, the fire was already extinguished, and the supplies were gone. While this assured us that yes, Mark Waid is Evil… they were nice enough to leave a note on the ground that declared “More Information To Come Soon…”

Consider yourselves now in-the-know. Stay tuned for more edification.

In the never-ending battle with the Jerry Siegel estate over the rights and ownership of Superman, DC has fired its old law firm and replaced him with a big, scary guy.

Well, Warner Bros. did the hiring. DC no longer has any distance from their parent company and therefore no longer steers the ship.

The new guy is Daniel Petrocelli. With respect to the current Superman situation, this is the guy who hammered the estate of literary
agent Stephen Slesinger on behalf of the Disney empire. Slesinger was the man who initially propelled Winnie the Pooh into the hearts and souls of Americans. Petrocelli got the suit tossed not on its merits but because the Slesingers’ lawyers illegally obtained documents by
trespassing on Disney property. Hey, a win’s a win.

Petrocelli is defending Jeffrey Skilling, the Enron CEO who was convicted of the massive swindle that cost so many Americans their life savings, their jobs, and/or their retirement. And by “convicted,” I mean the case is presently before the Supreme Court in an attempt to free the convict instead of letting him roast in a well-deserved living hell. But that’s just my opinion, and I like the guy’s brother.

This is not to say the Siegel estate doesn’t have its own heavy-hitter. Marc Toberoff, who already won some major innings in this particular dispute, is well-known in media circles and is also representing the Jack Kirby estate in a similar action against Marvel and their parent company, Marvel Comics. Toberoff’s involvement mitigates against the philosophy that Petrocelli was hired simply to intimidate the Siegel estate.

The people out of a job are the firm of Weissmann Wolff Bergman, who successfully defended DC Comics and our pals Timothy Truman and Joe R. Lansdale when the faded rock stars Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter gracelessly sued the bunch over a tribute in a Jonah Hex miniseries.

On the right, the well-known Watchmen icon. Trademarked and in use since 1986.

On the left, Marvel Comics’ ad for their new X-Men summer event, “We Are The X-Men.”

Coincidence? Really?

Worse still, if there are any walruses in the storyline, Marvel could have Yoko Ono up their ass.

About seven minutes after Canada beat the United States for the Winter Olympics gold medal, I got a call from ComicMix‘s own utility infielder, Glenn Hauman.

“So are you going to write it up?” Glenn asks.

“Write WHAT up?” Mike responds.

“The Grell thing, Glenn responds.

“Damn. WHAT did Mike do NOW,” Mike queries, oblivious to the obvious while deep in the throws of mourning the
American’s having to settle for a mere silver medal.

“You know, that hockey thing.” Like most Americans, Glenn’s not much of a hockey fan. He didn’t even know that his local team, the New Jersey Devils, was beating the poo out of nearly every other NHL team this year except for my Chicago Blackhawks.

“WHAT hockey… oh, I get it.” The cold light of reality started seeping into my blackened brainpan; the first sign of recovery for a hockey fan. Or maybe it’s the first sign of soberness; I wouldn’t know.

It turns out a couple years ago I assisted Iron Mike in a special licensing project for the NHL turning a bunch of rookies and newbies into super-heroes. It was a lot of fun for me, but mostly because this time Mike was the one playing point with the licensee and I was simply “advising,” which is a euphemism for “consulting,” which is another word for “money for nothing and your chicks for free.” Mike did some great work on this series, and among the players so empowered was an astonishingly young phenom called Sidney Crosby.

Sidney, of course, went on to become one of the hottest players in the NHL and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He also received the ultimate honor: I wear a Penguins t-shirt with his name and number on the back.

Sidney Crosby also scored the sudden death overtime goal last night that gave his homeland another gold medal for hockey. Quite aside from my genuinely patriotic fervor in my support of Team USA, it was an amazing goal and a well-earned victory.

And it teaches a lesson. See what happens when Mike Grell turns you into a super-hero?