Columnist Don MacPherson has posted a thoughtful piece on his Eye on Comics blog indicating the falling US dollar may bring about the elimination of separate Canadian pricing.

He cites Strange Adventures’ Calum Johnston, reporting, “Both Marvel and DC are thinking of removing the Canadian cover price to comic-book periodicals.”

Marvel Comics spokesman Arune Singh clarified conflicting statements in an e-mail today to MacPherson saying Canadian pricing won’t be dropped from its books, only from its periodical publications. “For the time being, Canadian prices will remain on Marvel collections,” he said in an e-mail.

Comics Pro president Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics tolds MacPherson, “I believe there are conflicting reports because the issue of whether to continue putting Canadian cover prices on periodical comics is still unsettled. What one publisher may do another may not follow,” he said Thursday. “The dialog happening now will lead to some resolution. And I believe the publishers will do what they feel best suits the majority of their retailers.”

Traditionally, the covers have carried the two prices and the adjustments to match exchange rates occurred with regularity. Many Canadian retailers are said to be ignoring the printed Canadian prices for years, hand calculating that day’s exchange rate.

“Many Canadian comic retailers have been going by the US cover price plus applicable exchange rate. The rate is determined by what Diamond Comics Distributors charges the retailer on their invoice,” Johnston said. “While the rate hovered between one and five per cent, we just went by the U.S. price as being the same as Canadian. A few weeks ago, the rate climbed to eight percent, and we had to go back to adding the exchange. Two weeks ago, it was 12 percent, last week 18 per cent and this week 26!”

Writer Ed Brubaker chimed in, noting his Criminal, published under Marvel’s Icon imprint, has just a domestic price, adding "More in Canada".

Halloween is the day where, traditionally, people under 21 run around in costumes and collect candy while people above do…other things. If you don’t have any big plans that involve getting candy or alcohol in a costume tonight, here are a few reasons to leave a bowl of candy outside your door and curl up in front of the DVD player for the night.

Dance of the Dead

If Zombie Comedies are your vice, then you’ll want to grab this Dance of The Dead as part of the Ghost House Underground box set. It takes place on prom night when the dead decide to rise, and the only people who can stop them are the one’s not cool enough to get invited to the dance.There’s plenty of horror moments for diehard zombie fans, as well as some pretty great one’s as well, including a zombie make-out scene. Check out a full review here.

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One of the reasons we love Google is that they know how to have fun.  Throughout the year, usually around the holidays, they have interesting visual takes on their stark logo.  Today, horror director Wes Craven has provided the Halloween edition.

Charles Addams’ immortal family of kooks will be singing and dancing in the Windy City come late 2009. The performances for the yet-to-be-cast musical will begin November 13, 2009 at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre according to The Chicago Tribune. The formal opening date is expected to be a few weeks later in early December.

When The Addams Family production was first announced May 21, 2007 by Elephant Eye Theatrical they anticipated it being ready for the 2009-2010 Broadway season but that date may now slip a year.

The production is being written by songwriter Andrew Lippa and Jersey Boys writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Improbable Theater founders Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch will direct and design.

“Chicago has instructive and enthusiastic audiences,” lead producer Stuart Oken told the paper. “Given our roots in the Chicago theater community, this was the only place we ever imagined doing our first production.”

Workshop productions to help shape the show have included Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia with the producers hoping to land the famed performers for real.

Rights to the characters, first seen in the New Yorker before coming to fame as an ABC sitcom, were granted by the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation.  While the characters have been seen in print in addition television and film, this marks the first time they will be seen on the stage.

"With a unique style that combined the ghoulish, macabre and just plain weird with charm, wit and enchantment, Addams’ drawings of Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Wednesday, Pugsley, Grandmama, Lurch and Thing have entertained millions worldwide and served as the inspiration for multiple television series and motion pictures," according to the Elephant Eye announcement.

Of course, the television theme song has become a recognizable part of popular culture with its familiar finger-snapping now used in sports stadiums around the country.

The Charles & Tee Addams Foundation was founded in 2000 by the late Tee Addams, widow of Charles Addams. The Foundation’s purpose is "to interpret and share the artistic achievement of Charles Addams’ life through programs developed from the artist’s work and archives."