One of the cool early pieces of news out of San Diego has been Cartoon Network’s development of a trio of Image properties for cartoons.

That would be Mice Templar (created and drawn by Hammer Of The Gods co-creator Mike Avon Oeming with Bryan J.L. Glass), Firebreather, and The Vanishers.

CBR has an interview with Firebreather creator Phil Hester who talked about the upcoming two-hour cartoon and the potential for an animated series.

Both Hester and Kuhn credit film producer Julia Pistor for seeing "Firebreather" through the hazards of Hollywood development to find it a home. "Originally, we were optioned by Paramount, and during that time they didn’t really do anything," said Kuhn. When the option was up, it was Pistor who contacted the creators with an offer to help. As a vice-president at Nickelodeon, Pistor has a long history of shepherding successful animation projects. She recognized "Firebreather" as something special.

The executive who had brought "Firebreather" into Paramount had unexpectedly passed away, leaving the project with no champion when the option period had passed. "She said ‘this is too good to just let die," Hester explained. "She offered to take it out herself and find a place to set it up."

I can only wonder (and hope) a Perhapanauts cartoon could soon follow, as writer Todd Dezago recently told me there had been some serious interest in that Image book as well.

The electronic future of comics moves apace with the announcement that some manga titles will be distributed on Nintendo’s Wii videogame system.

At first, it looks like this will only be available in Japan, but it may develop further.

The companies, Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shueisha and Shogakukan, have formed a joint venture with a local software house that aims to be the first to bring digital comics to the hit console. The venture, called Librica, was formed in July and will deliver comics through the Wii Ware software channel to users. An Internet connection will be required to use the service.

Initially it will target the Wii but Librica said it is considering expanding the service goal to encompass the handheld DS gaming device. It will also offer other publishers the chance to join its platform when launched.

Launch timing and pricing for the service was not announced.

The trend of using comics in politics has been picking up steam of late, starting with the graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report to Dan Goldman’s upcoming 2008 campaign book to that nutso Oklahoma county commissioner who thinks he’s being attacked by Satan and gays.

Now IDW is jumping into the political waters with a pair of comic book biographies of the two (realistic) contenders for the presidency. The Presidential Material books feature John McCain and Barack Obama in what sounds like it’ll be a guide for voters.

They’re $3.99 a piece at 28 pages, and will ship in October.

At right is the cover of the McCain book, which I posted instead of the Obama one. Liberal media my ass.