We wouldn’t have expected to find out about it in U.S. News & World Report either, but lo and behold, a genuine headline from the future:

Obama Environmental Czar Resigns

By Vic Sage | May 1, 2010 | USNews.com

(Washington, D.C.) — White House environmental “czar” Carol Browner announced her resignation today, citing a desire to “spend more time with her family.”

So there you have it. Thanks to dogged determination, a Christmas miracle, and presumably sales on the Question trade paperbacks from O’Neil, Cowan, and edited by some Gold guy, we’ll be seeing a return of Vic Sage in 2010.

Of course, if it doesn’t pan out, blame Dan DiDio as usual.

Dave Gibbons mentioned to Digital Spy that another of his comic properties is being eyed for the big screen.  "There’s been nothing picked up,” he admitted. “There was a series I did with Frank Miller called Martha Washington, which in fact is longer than Watchmen, it’s about 500 pages. Frank’s enjoying a certain amount of success in Hollywood and I wouldn’t be surprised if something happens with that. I think that would make a great movie. People misunderstand Frank, they think he’s very grim and right-wing, but he’s got his tongue very firmly in his cheek. Martha Washington is a war story but it’s quite satirical and I think has a strange resonance with what’s happening in the world today."

Miller also seems interested in the project, telling Splash Page, “It’s just a matter of finding the right venue, because Martha Washington isn’t a movie, it’s a series. It would have to be like 12 episodes to fit the whole story in. I would not let it be truncated.”

First published in 1990 as Give me Liberty, Martha has appeared in subsequent tales by the duo, all published by Dark Horse Comics.  They announced a Martha Washington Omnibus, collecting every page, but it remains off their schedule.

In the "oh my” department, Sherwood Schwartz and his son Lloyd have been talking up trying to make a feature film version of the classic 1960s sitcom Gilligan’s Island.  They envision Juno’s Michael Cera as the perfect Gilligan and imagine Beyonce Knowles as a modern day Ginger.

The legendary producer, perhaps best known for creating The Brady Bunch, told TV Guide of his plans at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, where Sherwood was inducted into its Hall of Fame.

The notion “just happened in the last 48 hours. I can’t take this much excitement at my age," he told the magazine. Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann, approved of the casting concepts. "There isn’t anybody sexier than Beyonce!"

We’ll see if a studio snaps up this high concept given the iffy reception movies based on 1960s TV series have received from The Avengers to Bewitched.
 

With The Dark Knight earning $465 million overseas, it’s hard to imagine that the world’s most populous country has yet to see the movie. According to Variety, Warner Bros. has decided not to open the film there at all.

"Based on a number of pre-release conditions that are being attached to The Dark Knight as well as cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film, we have opted to forego a theatrical release of the film in China," Warner said in a release on Tuesday.

The Dark Knight’s scenes shot in Hong Kong might be the points of contention. The country remains touchy regarding how they are depicted in films made by other countries.

At present, it remains $4 million shy of $1 billion in worldwide box office, a number likely to be reached by the time of it January 23 re-release.
 

A century ago today, December 26, 1908– ironically enough, Boxing Day in many countries– Jack Johnson beat Tommy Burns to become both the heavyweight champion of the world, and the most notorious black man on the planet.

We’ve been covering his story in The Original Johnson by Trevor Von Eeden. If you haven’t been reading it, you’re missing a treat. Start here to read it from the beginning.