Category: News

The most romantic comic currently running, Love And Capes, has a special offer– to get drawn into the cover of the upcoming wedding issue. Take it away, Thom:

You might not have been invited to Lois and Clark’s wedding. You probably couldn’t attend Peter and MJ’s wedding (and, if you did, you don’t remember it.). But you can be in attendance for the comic book wedding of the 21st century! The Crusader and Abby are getting married in Love and Capes #12, coming out in December 2009, and you could be there.

Tickets to this wedding are limited and seating is first come, first served. Cost is just $40 per couple or $25 per single. No "crashers" permitted. To be part of this special event, RSVP by sending a photo of yourself, along with your payment, and you will be drawn into the wedding scene cover of Love and Capes #12 and mentioned by name at the end of the book.

To commemorate this special event, and to show our appreciation for the fans of Love and Capes, artist Thom Zahler will be creating a special limited edition 11 x 17 print of the wedding cover. All "attendees" will be sent a signed and numbered print to commorate their attendance at this "super" celebration. Interested attendees can also look for Thom Zahler at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 27-Mar.1 or the Free Comic Book Day event May 2nd at Rogues Gallery Comics in Austin, Texas , where he’ll have his camera ready to snap your photo on site.

If response warrants, an alternate version of the cover illustration (featuring Mark in his tuxedo, rather than his Crusader uniform) will be created to handle the overflow crowd.

Please RSVP by May 25, 2009.

Straight from 1977 and Veidt Industries, it’s the Minutemen video game! Fight as Nite Owl or Silk Spectre against the machinations of Moloch the Mystic! Click through and play, only a virtual quarter!

It’s Friday the 13th and by mere coincidence, a movie relaunch of the same name hits theaters today. We spend some time comforting one of Jason’s nicer victims, then talk with David Uslan about his line up of projects that include a Bob Layton/David Michelinie movie. And did you know that Jonah Hex now has an on screen villain or that you can see the BSG spin off, CAPRICA, in just a few weeks? 
 

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Yes, Batman and Jonah Hex. Take a look…

We’ve obtained preview footage of this week’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode, airing tonight 6 February 20th on Cartoon Network at 8:00 PM.

This week’s episode "Return of the Fearsome Fangs!" takes Batman back to his origins with Master Wong Fei and the Wudang Temple. Fox, Vulture and Shark join the evil Shadow Clan in an attack on the Temple and kill Master Wong Fei in a battle of flying arrows and martial arts. When the Terrible Trio steals the Wudang Totem and transform into unstoppable mystical creatures,  it’s up to Batman and Bronze Tiger to save us all! Take a look…

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Well, not quite. But consider:

He was a young hot-shot, insanely popular with the kids. But he was tired of buckling under for the suits who controlled his career and had nearly scuttled it in the past, he wanted more artistic freedom for his own recordings. So he founded Reprise Records, and on this day in 1961, released the first album, Ring-a-Ding-Ding!

One of the label’s founding principles under Sinatra’s leadership was that each artist would have full creative freedom, and at some point complete ownership of their work; including publishing rights. As a result, a lot of other talented creators came on board with Frank, including Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Redd Foxx, Bing Crosby, and Rosemary Clooney. Later on, Reprise would also sign a lot of new talent including The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.

And Frank? He became "The Chairman of the Board" and went on to the most successful times of his career.

Nowadays, Reprise is owned by Warner Bros. Records, which isn’t entirely unlike what DC did with Wildstorm. And for one more comics tie-in, the label is now the home to My Chemical Romance, fronted by Gerard Way, former DC intern and current writer of The Umbrella Academy for Dark Horse, and they’re now releasing the soundtrack for Watchmen. Here’s the picture disc.

As Dean Martin was fond of saying, "It’s Frank’s world; we’re just lucky to be living in it."

So when you hear people talk about creators rights in the industry, just remember who was there first. Who did what he had to do, and saw it through without exemption. He said the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels. The record shows he took the blows… and did it his way.

One of the concerns for comic book creators is is protecting their rights.  In support of that, New York Comic-Con had a panel on Saturday called "Intellectual Property 101", put on by three lawyers in the entertainment business.  Thomas A. Crowell, Sheafe B. Walker, and Walter-Michael Lee, attorneys specializing in entertainment law and intellectual property, gave an overview and answered questions from the audience.

Several forms of rights are involved.  The first is copyright. Under current copyright law, a work is copyrighted automatically upon creation.  In the United States, copyrights are valid for the life of the creator plus 70 years.  In "work for hire contracts", copyrights may be for 95 or 120 years.

There is no requirement have anything special in the work such as a copyright symbol, or to register it to have a copyright.  However, registration of copyright was strongly recommended.  Copyright registration establishes a formal legal record of a copyright’s existance, dating from when registration was made, and gives you greater ability to collect damages if the copyright is infringed. The "poor man’s copyright" practice of mailing yourself a copy of your work to establish copyright was dismissed as obsolete and not doing anything useful.

Copyright registration can be handled on line by going to http://www.copyright.gov/register, or using paper forms.  The Copyright Office encourages online registration, and charges less for it.  Online registration has a $35 fee, whereas paper forms will cost $45.  You will need to provide contact information for the copyright holder, a copy of the work being copyrighted, and the fee.

In answer to a question, it was stated that you could use one copyright registration to copyright an entire series, as in a continuing comic book. There was no requirment for a sperate filing and fee for each issue. It is also possible, though rare, to get a copyright on a work in progress that is not yet completed.

Partnerships and work-for-hire agreements present special challenges. (more…)

Great, another British comics invasion, only this time it’s on television.

ABC, jazzed from its success transplanting Life On Mars, has okayed a single-camera comedy based on a British series called No Heroics about superheroes with limited powers hanging out in a bar. Jeff Greenstein (Will & Grace) wrote the pilot along with original show creator Drew Pearce. Heidi Macdonald reports:

The UK version is out on DVD for all you all-region peeps, and thanks to Mr. Pearce, we got to sample the show*, which, like many Britcoms, puts its hapless cast into worse and worse social situations where not all their powers can save them. The UK show was quite funny, and featured a zillion in-jokes for anyone who actually reads comics, as well as a dark view of the social pecking order among the long underwear set. Hopefully a Stateside version can retain both elements.

It’s an ABC Studios production. Funny how that works nowadays…