What sort of pop culture website would ComicMix be if we did not salute the 50th anniversary of The Smurfs? That’s right, it was on this day that Belgian cartoonist Peyo’s (a.k.a. Pierre Culliford) first published drawings featuring those blue cuties.

It all began in 1952 when the artist began a strip called Johan et Pirlouit (translated as Johan and Peewit), in Le Journal de Spirou.  On this date in 1958, the Smurfs appeared in the storyline, “La flûte à six trous”. While seeking a magic flute, Johan and Pirlouit encountered a being called Schtroumpf. Audiences were enchanted and within a year, Smurf solo stories began appearing in Spirou followed almost immediately by the first merchandising.

Over time, the society and culture of the Smurfs took shape from the look of Smurf Village to the personalities of the various and seemingly endless supply of inhabitants.  They weren’t as well known in America until Hanna-Barbera corrected the oversight with an animated series.  The show debuted September 12, 1981 and ran without break until December 2, 1989.  By then, a total of 421 stories were crafted, totaling 256 total half hour programs. 

The 1980s were filled with Smurf merchandise and memorabilia and then, as with all things, the fad faded and they were relegated to American nostalgia while the Smurfs continued to be immensely popular in throughout Europe. They have been associated with UNICEF for years, adding a humanitarian element to the property.

Sony recently announced there would be a live-action/animated feature film to be written by David Stem and David Weiss, the men behind Shrek 2 and Shrek The Third and produced by Jordan Kerner (Charlotte’s Web). Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman-CEO Michael Lynton grew up with Les Schtroumpfs in the Netherlands, promoting the studio to pick up the rights when they became available.

“The Smurfs are one of the best-known franchises, and among the most beloved collection of characters in the world,” Columbia co-president Doug Belgrad said. “We’re very excited to introduce a new generation to Papa Smurf, Smurfette and the other smurftastic Smurfs in all of their ‘three-apple-tall’ glory.”

As part of the celebration, a new giant Smurf helium balloon and float will appear in the 82nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.  A new wave or merchandise will be available at the February Toy Fair, meaning 2009 may well be the year the Smurfs return to American prominence.

Yen Press has been moved from the Young Adult division of Hachette Book Group to become an imprint of the company’s Orbit line of science fiction titles. Orbit was already an existing imprint and is now being upgraded to a separate division, much as DelRey is an imprint and separate division of Random House. They too have a line of Manga.

As part of the shuffle, Rich Johnson, co-founder of the line, will be leaving Hachette on October 31. Co-founder Kurt Hassler will remain to run the titles, reporting to Tim Holman, newly named VP and Publisher of the Orbit division.

Yen Press was founded in 2007, largely by Johnson who had previously been VP-Sales for DC Comics. They announced an ambitious of line Manga titles in addition to Yen Plus, a monthly anthology magazine ala Shonen Jump, which debuted July 29. The company absorbed Korea’s ICEkunion which had been releasing manhwa to American audiences which it did after delays, in the spring.

As the company geared up for launch, they announced an ambitious goal of 30-40 volumes released in 2008, just as the Manga flood in the bookstore markets led to the chains seriously re-evaluating titles and cutting back on orders, which had serious repercussions for Viz, TokyoPop and CMX.

Hachette’s CEO and Chairman David Young said in the press release, “This new publishing division gives us the perfect platform for building our business in two genres that have significant potential for future growth. Tim has grown Orbit to be the market-leading imprint in the UK, and his publishing experience is perfectly suited to the opportunities presented by both Orbit and Yen Press in the US market. We are of course sorry that Rich Johnson will be leaving the company, however as the Yen business has evolved it has become clear that a single Publishing Director for the imprint is most appropriate. The establishment of this new division reflects not only our belief that it makes publishing sense for Orbit and Yen Press to be more closely connected within the company, but also our commitment to the genres in which they publish.” (more…)

Darwin Cooke’s new project from IDW, Parker, has a long history in crime fiction and even on the big screen. Darwin fills us in on how he’s bringing all this to the comics, plus:

• J.G. Jones leaves Final Crisis
• Marvel’s toy line spawns a comic
• Got a minute to see a classic horror flick?

You know the driil. Come on and  Press the Button!

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We’ve often called Sam Raimi the busiest man in Hollywood between the projects he is personally directing along with those he is involved as a producer.

After all, his Ghost House Pictures are producing films, which we’ll be reviewing in the coming days, and there’s his new television series which partner Rob Tapert discussed with us the other day.  Then there are the various film franchises from Spider-Man to Evil Dead which he’s been involved.

We often wonder here at ComicMix central when he will cry uncle and the answer is, now. Raimi told MTV that he has had to withdraw from his previously announced involvement with Paramount Pictures’ planned reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise. He bowed out to concentrate on Sony’s Spider-Man films which further convince us that the next two will be filmed back-to-back.

 “I’m really excited about Spider-Man,” the director said. “Production [on more Spider-Man films] would start probably by March, I’m guessing of 2010.” Which also means he’s working to meet Sony’s already announced plan for Spider-Man 4 to open in summer 2011. (Probably nestled between First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers so as not to dilute the appetite for Marvel super-heroes.)

“I love Tom Clancy, and I hope they’d keep me in mind,” Raimi said of the film series which has, to date, starred Ben Affleck, Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin. “But because I’m committed to ‘Spider-Man and making that picture, I think it’s going to knock me out of the running for the Jack Ryan picture.”

He did not address the choice of villain or who will be the love interest although the blogosphere continues to suspect Kirsten Dunst will be dropped from at least Spidey 4 in favor of Elizabeth Banks, who played Betty Brant back in the first film.
 

Searching for the paranormal has become incredibly popular across the world and has propelled stellar ratings for Sci Fi Channel’s various shows where various people seek the unknown or unexplained.  The most popular of the bunch is Ghost Hunters and now a second spinoff series is in the works.

Ghost Hunters: College Edition will be, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “features a group of students going around the country to seek out paranormal activity”.  We imagine their tour bus will compete with the Girls Gone Wild bus for prime parking spaces.

Conceived by GH’s Executive Producer, Craig Piligian, the series will use an experience investigator to show the students how it’s done.  At present, it has not been determined if a member of the TAPS domestic team seen on Ghost Hunters or the international edition from Ghost Hunters International will be recruited to play professor.  The cast for GHI seemed like castoffs from the prime series and experienced turnover by the beginning of its second season.

The original GH began airing in 2004, featuring Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes as Roto Rooter staffers by day and investigators by night.  The series has averaged over two million viewers a week with the October 8 episode notching an all-time high of 2.7 million total viewers.

GHI began airing in January averaging 2.4 million viewers and has been renewed.

The lead investigators have become celebrities and have been seen at the New York Comic-Con and Comic-Con International.  Some of their cases have been collected in a book, co-written with Michael Jan Friedman from Pocket Books with a second volume due in 2009.

"Ghost Hunters’ appeals to a wide demographic, and we felt the college edition would be a great asset to the franchise," Piligian told the trade.
 

McG reports on the Terminator Salvation blog that principal photography has wrapped and the crew has now moved on to Post-Production as they work toward their May 9, 2009 release date.

"We wrapped principal photography. Now we’re heavy into post. I’ve already shown early cuts to Christian [Bale] and Sam [Worthington]. They seem pleased with where the film is headed. Our focus is on story and character, but its fun diving into the world of visual effects.

“Charlie Gibson is aware of his responsibility as the VFX supervisor and second unit director of this film. He works with ILM and Asylum every day and makes revisions to the finest detail. We want the patina of the machines to be dirty and heavy and perfectly realistic – that’s why we built so much practically with Stan Winston.

“But at some point the effects kick in and like any Terminator fan, Charlie wants his mind blown. There’s one sequence in particular where we’re trying to achieve something that’s never been done before. I don’t want to talk about it because we haven’t been successful yet…But we’re working on it.

“Christian and Sam bring power to the rolls of John Connor and Marcus Wright. This is a story of two destinies colliding. Connor is part of a resistance comprised of the ethnicities that make up the globe. This film is so much more that just Los Angeles. It reflects the global crisis of man, all of man versus machine."

No word yet when we’ll see a full trailer for the feature but you can bet we’ll be seeing exclusive scenes on Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles now that the series has a full season order.