Stan Lee and his entertainment company Pow! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment will collaborate with Japanese manga creator Hiroyuki Takei (creator of Shaman King) on a new manga series for Japanese audiences. The series, entitled Ultimo (Karakuridôji Ultimo in Japanese), will premier later this month in Jump SQ. II, a special editon of Jump SQ, a monthly manga magazine published by Shueisha, one of Viz"s Media parent companies and the publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.

Marc Weidenbaum, editor-in-chief of the U.S. edition of Shonen Jump, will release details about the project in a press conference during New York Comic-con later this month. "I really can't say much now," Wiedenbaum told PWCW in an interview yesterday, "except that it's coming out, it's historic, and we're excited." Asked whether Ultimo would appear in the U.S. edition of Shonen Jump, Weidenbaum said that Viz is excited about the Japanese edition and is focused getting the word out about the collaboration.

For those who remember, he was the young boy who gets the girl in the film Love Actually. For those who don't, Thomas Sangster may yet become a household name. The sixth-former from south London, the Guardian can reveal, has been chosen by Steven Spielberg to be his Tintin for a three-movie adaptation of the boy reporter's adventures. The trilogy is likely to give the 17-year-old the same profile as Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, or Elijah Wood, who shot to international stardom as Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings series.

Spielberg has been working with Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings and King Kong, on how to bring Tintin to life. Now the production has taken another significant step with the casting of Sangster, alongside Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the adaptation of Tolkien's books, as Captain Haddock. Both actors spent a week in Los Angeles before Easter running through scenes for Spielberg and Jackson; work begins in earnest in September, with a view to releasing the first film in 2010.

Sangster admitted to the Guardian that he had not read Tintin until a few days ago. "But I've always loved the cartoons. I never saw the books because I was never that big on reading. When I was really young I watched some episodes and loved it.

"You can really escape into this fantasy world ... I love cars and aeroplanes and stuff, any car or any aeroplane or any gun that was ever used in Tintin would always be real, an exact copy of it so if it was a car it would be a Citroen and if it was a gun it would be a Luger."

"Tintin is like a super boy scout. He knows how to fly these things. He knows how to drive these things. It's just like common sense: he jumps in and goes, he doesn't need to think about any safety, he just goes where he pleases. For such a small kid he's very good at beating people up and, being a cartoon, nowadays you know, there's all that 'we can't be violent'".

Before anybody explodes about kids reading comic books when they're supposed to be doing quadratic equations or studying Shakespeare, know that comic books have changed, and so has reading. Under the spiffier label of "graphic novels," these bound books feature every stripe of hero and story. "The themes and genres can range from science to biography, and from memoirs to yes, superheroes," said John Shableski of Diamond Book Distributors, which specializes in comics. "Every subject is available in the format."'

These are not your father's comic books. Superman and Wonder Woman, yes; but also graphic novel editions of the works of Shakespeare, and many classics -- The Red Badge of Courage, Beowulf, Greek myths, the Adventures of Robin Hood, even Canterbury Tales.

Last year, the Printz Award, an American Library Association honor for the most distinguished book for teens, went to American Born Chinese,a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney was an original online comic about a beleaguered middle-schooler before the hard-cover edition propelled it and its sequel to The New York Times bestseller list. Bone, about a marshmallow-y type creature's adventures, was self-published by Jeff Smith before Scholastic bought it, colorized it and split it into nine volumes. A million copies of the first installment, Out From Boneville, have been sold. Scholastic brought the series to the classroom by producing a teacher-friendly guide.

Comics are infiltrating the schoolhouse like never before because they are reaching that most elusive of creatures -- the reluctant reader. Faced with a generation raised in a visual environment dominated by television, the Internet and electronic games, teachers and librarians have found comics will lure readers -- especially boys -- who have a limited interest in books.

The first issue will be on comic store shelves starting March 3rd for the regular price of $2.99 each. However, a limited edition version of issue #1 with exclusive cover art will be available at WonderCon. In addition, Ben Templesmith and Antony Johnston will be signing the first issue of the Dead Space comic at WonderCon on February 22nd & 23rd at the Electronic Arts/Image Comics booth where the first 25 people each day will receive a free copy.

"The world of Dead Space has such a deep storyline that it's easily adaptable to other mediums," said Executive Producer of Dead Space, Glen Schofield. "We love the fact our story is being told across multiple forms of media, providing different experiences to different audiences, which all lead to the same dark place."

Ben Templesmith is an Australian commercial artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry -- most notably Fell with writer Warren Ellis, published by Image Comics, and 30 Days of Night with writer Steve Niles published by IDW Publishing. The 30 Days of Night novel provoked a bidding war between film studios for the movie rights when the story was pitched a second time with Templesmith's artwork. Ben has been nominated for multiple Eisner Awards three years in a row for his comic work. He has also created book covers, movie posters, trading cards, and concept work for film.

Antony Johnston was born and raised in the Birmingham, England area and is the author of thirteen graphic novels, including Stormbreaker and Point Blanc (adapted from Anthony Horowitz' best-selling Alex Rider novels), The Long Haul, Julius and Three Days in Europe. He writes two ongoing serials, the sci-fi epic Wasteland and the children's fantasy Texas Strangers. He has adapted many of Alan Moore's prose stories to comics, written for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre comics license, and is the only other writer to have penned a story for Greg Rucka's award-winning Queen & Country series. He also writes novels; his debut Frightening Curves won the 2002 American Independent Publishing Award for Best Horror. His second novel, Stealing Life, was published in 2007.

Marvel Comics, which killed off the veteran superhero almost a year ago, brought him back to life Wednesday - sort of.

Captain America's alter-ego, Steve Rogers, is still resting in peace at Arlington National Cemetery, having been done in by assassins last March. But his good buddy and sidekick from the 1940s, Bucky Barnes, has picked up the bulletproof Captain America shield, put on a new uniform and taken his place.

What's that you say? Wouldn't Bucky be about 85 years old now? And without any real super powers to fall back on, isn't that kind of long in the tooth to be taking a bite out of crime?

Well, yeah. But remember, this is the comic book world we're talking about. Bucky was put in suspended animation by the evil Russians and stayed that way for the better part of 60 years.

"So he's probably in his late 20s right now," jokes Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada, who decided to promote him to Captain America.

Actually, Steve Rogers carried plenty of guns in the war. He never enjoyed using a gun, or a flame-thrower, or a grenade, but he had no real aversion to them, either. As for why I carry a gun, it's because I'm not Steve, and I never will be... but I don't think he'd feel it was tainting his legacy

A new Conan video game (THQ, $60, for Xbox 360 and PS3) arrives next week; an online role-playing game, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Eidos, for PCs), is scheduled to be released in March. "I think Conan has on and off been a success since (Howard's) inception in the '30s, and (in recent years) the license was mismanaged," says Jorgen Tharaldsen of game developer Funcom. "He is the original American fantasy hero."

Conan the Phenomenon ($29.95), a new 200-page coffee-table book from Dark Horse Comics, has scores of classic images from illustrators such as Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo, as well as a detailed history of Conan and of Howard, who died in 1936. "It covers Conan as a pop-culture figure in all these different media over the years," says Dark Horse's Scott Allie.

Also from Dark Horse: The Savage Sword of Conan, a 542-page collection of the original Marvel Comics magazines, due Dec. 19 ($17.95), as well as continuing reprints of Marvel's original Conan the Barbarian comics and a new monthly series started in 2004. "The (Marvel) comics created the foundation for the movies," Allie says. "We felt it was important to reprint them."

A movie, in development by Millennium Films (16 Blocks, The Black Dahlia), is planned for 2009. Malmberg, who is producing, wants to restore Conan to Howard's original noble savage, "a barbarian who is confronted with civilization as his life progresses and (who) has a much stronger moral code than the so-called civilized people."

The company unveiled the patriotic superhero's new look Thursday with artwork by Alex Ross and Steve Epting for the new issue, No. 34, to hit comic book shops in January 2008.

Captain America will return with his trademark shield, but he also will have some new firepower. The artists are bringing the hero back with a gun.

"I always try and look back in the character's history to something that maybe was a forgotten costume element from a bygone age, maybe one of the earlier costume elements, to see if you could bring that part back," Ross told Marvel.com. "Well, funny enough, there's this awful movie serial made in the '40s with Cap where he had no shield, no wings on his mask, no white sleeves, little tiny gloves, and he carried a gun."

In the tradition of science fiction with a social conscience as established by works like Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and George Orwell's 1984, The Recidivistspeers into the society of tomorrow and warns us of the future we're building today. In this engaging and thoughtful collection of three overlapping narratives, Slaughter's crafting a graphic novel unlike anything the comic book industry has seen before, setting the stage for other prose writers to take the plunge into comics writing.

"This really is an area that we were one of the first publishers to focus on," explained OniPress publisher Joe Nozemack. "The last time we unleashed a novelist of this caliber on the comic book world, it was Greg Rucka (Patriot Acts, Whiteout). We've long wanted to build on that fine pedigree. Slaughter's enthusiasm for the medium melded perfectly with her skills as a writer and made this a project we were passionate to publish. The more we talked about the project, the more we all realized that this could be the first step in a newline to give established prose writers an outlet to break into the medium and to expand the potential for the types of stories they could do." Slaughter says.

"Graphic novels let you take risks that just wouldn't fly in the conventional book form. Visual story telling is at once immediate and subversive. I am thrilled to be partnering with Joe Nozemack and Oni Press, whose award-winning vision and success have already made them the preeminent graphic publishing house in the business." Slaughterhouse Graphic Novels will feature a wide-array of characters and genres, incorporating the diverse range of material which has consistently defined the identity of Oni Press. From science fiction to crime noir to humor-the only limitations on Slaughterhouse are that of the creator's imagination.

Shadow Hunter is the story of a provocative superheroine who survives a brush with death only to find herself fighting the legions of hell for her very soul. Cover art for the first issue has been created by Greg Horn, a top illustrator of comic books and video games. The story, while provocative and sexy, contains no nudity and is intended for a mainstream audience.

"Jenna Jameson is a cultural force," said Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan. "She is an entrepreneur who is taking the taboo to the mainstream and has built an industry around her brand." "I'm thrilled to be collaborating with Virgin to bring this story to life, first as comics and eventually in film and other formats," said Jenna Jameson. "Working with comics is creatively liberating - everything is possible. My character is sultry, sexy and kicks ass!"

"Jenna brings a defiance and edge to everything she does, said Gotham Chopra, Chief Creative Officer of Virgin Comics. "She's a provocateur and there's no doubt that our creative team at Virgin is going to have a blast collaborating with her. I can assure you every artist we have in our studio is vying to get assigned to this project!"

San Diego Comic-Con is preparing for record crowds when Jenna makes her very first appearance at this event that attracts more than 100,000 fans. Jenna will be speaking about Shadow Hunter and signing autographs for fans on Saturday afternoon, July 28 at 4:30 PM. Images from the series will be available from the Virgin Comics booth at the San Diego Convention Center.

Complaints about Tintin in the Congo, a comic book originally published in 1931, gathered momentum recently when David Enright, a lawyer in London, happened to pick up a copy as he strolled through a Borders store there.

What he saw in the book - suggestions "that Africans are subhumans, they are imbeciles, that they're half-savage" - is not in dispute. Even Herge, the celebrated author and illustrator of the 23 Tintin books, was said to regret the volume before his death in 1983. Borders' next move in Britain, which was announced after the Commission for Racial Equality leveled charges of racism, was to transfer the comic to the adult graphic novel shelves. Now, the United States and Australia have followed suit.

Recognizing this moment of skillful damage control was Foreign Policy's Passport blog. "It's a fair solution," they wrote. The application of "adults only" rules to commerce are rarely this well received, with a notable exception being the consensus that formed around the video game Manhunt 2. The media coverage of the affair has led to soaring sales of the Tintin in the Congo on Amazon. As for who is buying them, well-meaning Tintin fans will hope they aren't "laughing for the wrong reasons," a suspicion that helped Dave Chappelle decide to abruptly end his lucrative TV show that addressed racial issues in comedic sketches.

Creators will be encouraged to send submissions that run the full gamut of comic book genres -- from humor, romance, science fiction, fantasy and superheroes. Editorial for Zudacomics.com will be handled by Ron Perazza, DC Comics Director of Creative Services and Kwanza Johnson, DC Comics Online Editor, and overseen by DC Comics SVP-Creative Director. Richard Bruning. Johnson and Perazza will be charged with selecting the submissions for the site's competitions; additionally, the editors can declare as many as six submissions as instant winners during the calendar year. All Zudacomics.com creators who are instant winners, competition winners and competition finalists will be paid by DC Comics.

Zudacomics.com's official tagline is "click here to continue." The site will have numerous variations of a site logo that reflects the scope and ambition of the imprint. "In designing the Zuda logo, it was important to echo back to the interactive nature of the web, the creativity of our medium and the diversity of the comics community," said Richard Bruning. "We soon realized that there shouldn't be just one logo. We wanted to reflect the different 'faces' of web comics that we are looking to publish. It's all about the diversity of the readership and the medium."

Unlike a traditional comic book page (which traditionally measures 6 5/8" X 10 1/4"), a Zuda web comic will consist of a series of 4:3 aspect ratio screens, so that users will be able to read a web comic installment without opening an additional window in their browser or excessive scrolling. Ongoing Zuda web comics will run for at least 52 total installments, in addition to the initial submission.

Hordes of cosplayers showed off their costumes; anime was screened from morning till night; and the convention center stayed open until the wee hours to let fans dance and party. There were multiple screenings of the live action Death Note movies (based on the manga series), allowing attendees to view them at their convenience. Likewise, the animated feature film, Tekkonkinkreet, Sony's adaptation of Taiyo Matsumoto's manga about an underworld of tough kids who take on the yakuza (Japanese gangsters), also premiered. Viz Media is releasing a giant omnibus collection of Tekkonkinkreet: Black and White this September. Another movie to premier was Mushishi, a live action feature film starring Japanese heartthrob Joe Odagiri, based on the mystical Del Rey manga of the same name. And not to be outdone, Transformers, Hollywood's much hyped sci-fi blockbuster film, was screened for viewers on Expo's last night.

*****

DC Comics' manga imprint, CMX, made it official that Shirley, a one-shot by Mori Kaoru, about an English maid character from her maid series Emma, will be published by CMX in 2008. But more importantly, CMX revisited the controversial Tenjho Tenge series, which had been subject to a fan boycott in 2005 after CMX heavily edited parts of the original series to remove nudity in order to give it a teen rating. CMX plans to give Tenjho Tenge a mature rating beginning with volume 15. But CMX manga editor Jim Chadwick warned fans that the series will still be edited for content, although future edits will be lighter. "We'll be showing much more that we've shown before," said Chadwick. CMX has plans for other mature-rated books including Orfina, Presents and Variante-which will feature a larger trim size and a higher price, at $12.99. Tenjho Tenge will retain its current trim size and pricing. "We don't want people to think CMX equals editing," said Asako Suzuki, CMX's director of manga, who said CMX is changing the way it handles mature manga titles.

*****

This year, AnimeExpo returned to the Long Beach Convention Center, its old stomping grounds, after three years at the Anaheim Convention Center. But according to AX publicist Chase Wang, AnimeExpo has outgrown both venues and will move to the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2008. "We've grown to be the largest manga and anime convention in the U.S.," said Wang, who noted that Baltimore's Otakon, the other major manga and anime convention, is about half the size of AX. "We're not just fan-based anymore. The industry is coming here. Hollywood is coming here [to promote] Transformers before it's released. We're expanding in influence."

Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today that it has acquired an original graphic novel starring Odd Thomas, perhaps the most memorable and beloved character Dean Koontz has ever created. The charismatic young fry cook from Pico Mundo, California has appeared in three New York Times bestselling novels: Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, and Brother Odd, which was one of Koontz's fastest-selling hardcovers. Odd, who has the ability to communicate with the dead, has inspired more readers' letters than any other of his characters, according to Koontz.

Koontz's characters-including Odd, his girlfriend Stormy Llewellyn, Pico Mundo Chief of Police Porter, the ghost of Elvis Presley, and many more-will be drawn by one of the top original-English-language manga artists working today, Queenie Chan. Chan, author of the popular mystery-horror series The Dreaming, will script the story as well. Publication is planned for Summer 2008.

The graphic novel will follow Odd's race to solve the murder of a young boy whose killer appears to be stalking a second child. It is set in the time before Odd Thomas and takes place in Pico Mundo. The book will be edited by Del Rey editor-in-chief Betsy Mitchell. Says Dean Koontz: "I'm delighted that Odd Thomas will come to life in manga, that the enormously talented Queenie Chan's beautiful art will define his world and the desert town of Pico Mundo, and that the project is being guided by such capable hands as those at Del Rey."

Queenie Chan comments: "It's an honor to work with Dean on this project, and I'm glad he's chosen me for this new story of Odd Thomas. I read his novels when I was in high school, and never did I imagine that I would have the chance to work with such a well-known and established author today."

"If movie No. 1 works, we will continue," Rodwell said, adding that it is still unclear which of Tintin's adventures — depicted in 24 books — will be filmed.

A completed movie could show up in theatres by 2009 or 2010, Rodwell told a press conference.

Since his debut in 1929, Tintin has enthralled comic readers with his ongoing adventures. In 2004, fans around the world celebrated his 75th birthday.

In addition to the comic book stories and the Tintin magazine, which was published from 1946 until the early 1990s, the beloved character was brought to life in radio dramas, a handful of animated and live action films, two television series, several stage shows and some video games.

Merchandising as long been a staple of the band, and KISS has appeared in comic books published by Marvel, Dark Horse and Image over the last 30 years. The first KISS comic, published by Marvel, featured the band’s blood mixed into the ink. They also made a guest appearance in Howard the Duck.

Captain America, the stars-and-stripes-wearing crimefighter, was gunned down by a sniper as he left a courthouse today. He was 66. Or at least that's how the latest issue of the comic book series goes.

The venerable superhero - noted for wielding a shield as he'd battled Nazis, Communists and assorted evildoers in a career that began during World War II - is killed in the new Marvel comic book that hits newsstands today, as reported by the New York Daily News. The hero was created in 1941 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as a foe for Adolf Hitler. Over the years, an estimated 210 million copies of "Captain America" comic books, published by New York-based Marvel Entertainment, have been sold in 75 countries.

The superhero, born Steve Rogers, was spawned when the scrawny arts student, ineligible for the army because of his poor health but eager to serve his country, agreed to a "Super Soldier Serum" injection. Armed only with his shield, his strength, his smarts and a command of martial arts, the substance made him a paragon of physical perfection - but not, alas, impervious to an assassin's bullet, as revealed today.

But resurrections are not uncommon in the world of comics, and Marvel Entertainment editor in chief Joe Quesada said a Captain America comeback wasn't impossible. The company has also said it's developing a Captain America movie.

Based on Greg Rucka's comic, the story follows Stetko, who is stationed in Anarctica and is brought into a murder investigation. There are only three days until winter hits, when the continent will become dark and she will be trapped with the killer. So, obviously, she has to haul arse to find out the person, before one of the two gets to play Alive. The film will start shooting in Montreal (Huh?) in March, and Wikipedia sources say that they'll also film in Manitoba, which makes much more sense. The flick is headed by Dominic Sena, and sure, he's the man who brought us Gone in Sixty Seconds and Swordfish, but he's also the man behind Rhythm Nation, so maybe the parka-laden people can break into an ultra-serious dance routine at some point in the movie.

"They are aimed at all ages. They are written in a childlike way like the 'Mr Men' books but they are for adults as well as kids," he told Reuters. "I particularly loved the idea of writing a book about Michael Jackson that you could read to children." In "A Boy Called Michael" Robinson writes: "If you were to line up lots of pictures of Michael, you might think that he had changed himself lots to look different. You would be wrong to think that -- most of this has happened by itself!"

"In the book on Britney Spears, I said she should stop having babies and make another album. She is now doing that so I hope we played a small part," Robinson said. He has now signed a deal to turn the slim volumes into an animated TV series. Elton John is satirised for his shopping sprees and short temper. Recalling one of his outbursts about lip-synching at concerts, Robinson writes: "Once Sir Elton was very mean about a girl called Madonna. "He said that Madonna should not make people pay to watch her pretend to sing songs. Elton was very angry about this. He was so angry his head almost fell off."

Feedback, as far as Robinson knows, has been positive. "Robbie Williams was given a copy early on of the book about him. He really liked it and took it home," he said. No collection of cautionary pop tales would be complete without the story of "A Boy Called Pete" about singer Pete Doherty, the self-confessed drug addict and on-again off-again boyfriend of supermodel Kate Moss. "I didn't set out to make it moral but it's difficult not to see it as a good example of why you should not take drugs all the time," Robinson said.

As the book explains, Pete "likes to take lots of mind-bending Class A drugs. Unfortunately Class A drugs are not very good for you. They make you smelly and a bit untidy-looking."

"My father took an interest in my comic character Enigma so he put me in touch with Gotham Chopra" said Weston Cage. "Together we developed Enigma from my dark imagination. Enigma is a very dark character resurrected by a group of followers of Voodoo, who intend him to be a defender; one to give criminals bad karma early in life, or death. Despite his terrifying appearance that forces readers to believe at first that he is a villain or so called 'bad guy,' he is very well-mannered and a gentleman, but a machine full of rage in the heat of the moment. I owe my thanks to Gotham Chopra for his enormous help in getting all my thoughts out about Enigma and of course my outstanding father who is always there for me."

Deepak Chopra added, "The Sadhu is a story of the dormant potentialities – both divine and diabolical – that exist in all of us. It is also about the struggle between the sacred and the profane within all of us when archetypal energies awaken in our consciousness. As a performer, Nic embodies the soul of these archetypal energies and I can think of no one better to develop this franchise and iconic role."

Since when have women become comic fans? Since the explosion of Japanese-style cartoons, known as "manga." This same style of cartooning is known as "anime," when the pictures are moving, in video or film. "There was an audience here waiting, girls that watched 'Sailor Moon' and loved it," said Svetlana Chmakova, an artist who draws Japanese-style manga comics, for Cosmo Girl Magazine and publisher TokyoPop. "Sailor Moon" is one of the most famous Japanese television cartoons in the world.

It began running on American television in the mid-1990s, and a film version was released by Disney, the parent company of ABC, in 2000. Since then, manga has exploded in popularity here in the United States, and most of the fans are female. Calvin Reed of Publisher's Weekly said: "What has been driving the sales of manga in this country is 'shojo' manga, aimed at girls. Comics aimed at a girl's sensibility are great at creating a comics market in the bookstore market."

Here is another difference. Girls aren't buying their comics in comic book shops; they're shopping at bookstores, and bookstores are responding by stocking more and more of them. North American manga sales have tripled in the last three years, from $50 million in 2002 to $155 million in 2005. Sales of graphic novels - comics in book form that include manga - have tripled in the last five years.

Six hundred years ago, a mighty treasure fleet set out to sail the oceans of the world. They reached every continent, and discovered every land long before history's great explorers stole credit for their feats. Now, in modern day Los Angeles, seven men with nothing in common but their destinies are drawn together in the service of a mysterious young woman. An ancient prophecy must be fulfilled. Something terrible is reaching out across the centuries. There's a world to be saved, and the only hope for us all is a power too terrifying to be used.

The Hachette Book Group has hired Rich Johnson, formerly of DC Comics, to look into heading a new graphic novel imprint. In an internal memo released to PW, Hachette announced the decision to go graphic by stating that the publisher "has been looking for a creative way to be part of this exciting category." Johnson, who had been v-p of book trade sales at DC, has been hired as a consultant to consider acquiring titles in a number of categories under the graphic umbrella including licensed manga, original manga, original American comics and graphic novels, webcomics, licensed adaptations and children's graphic novels.

While Hachette did say that Rich will be attending Frankfurt to "make contacts and gather information for this potential new venture," the publisher said it looks forward to releasing a statement with information on the name of the imprint along with details about new hires and staff.

The first project under the agreement is an adaptation of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter in Guilty Pleasures, which comes out in October. The series will feature the artwork of Brett Booth (Heroes Reborn: Fantastic Four) and tell a story of fantasy, romance and horror centering on an alternate reality where the U.S. government has declared the undead as legal beings. While attempting to coexist with humans, the vampires, zombies and werewolves still wreak havoc at times, and that's when Blake steps in.

In the coming months, Marvel and the Dabel Brothers will adapt George R.R. Martin's Hedge Knight series, Orson Scott Card's Red Prophet and Raymond E. Feist's Magician: Apprentice.

Marvel has signed on as the exclusive publisher for Dabel Brothers Productions, obtaining the marketing, print and distribution rights. The Dabel Brothers will continue to operate as an independent entity working with science fiction, fantasy and horror authors on story development.

Q: What's the film making experience like when shooting a flick about a character that's loved by so many fans?

MSJ: Well, the good news is that I AM one of those fans so I've done my best to pay tribute to the Marvel comic character. I grew up with Ghost Rider and just like some of you I've waited a long time to see a Ghost Rider movie. There's a lot of pressure to make good on that but it's pressure that I welcome. I'm hopeful that the movie will introduce the Ghost Rider to a whole new generation of fans while reminding the faithful why he's the coolest character in the Marvel Universe!

Q: When was Ghost Rider made? What comic book was he first seen in? What kind of weapons does he have?

MSJ: The first Ghost Rider was a western comic put out by Marvel back in 1949, then later re-imagined by writers Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich in 1967. The Ghost Rider as we know him today was first introduced back in 1972 in Marvel Spotlight Vol. 1 by Thomas and Friedrich. Ghost Rider's weapons are many: his superhuman strength, his heavy chain which he used like a whip, his ability to manipulate fire, his motorcycle, which can ride up buildings, and probably most importantly, the Penance Stare. The Penance Stare is a look that the Ghost Rider gives his victims which sears the victim's soul -- it doesn't kill, but it makes the sinner feel all of the sins he's ever committed to others. Death would be a welcome relief to anyone suffering the Ghost Rider's Penance Stare!

This isn't Buffy's first foray into comics. And it remains to be seen if it ranks anywhere near Joss Whedon's best foray into comics: the all-too-brief "future slayer" saga Fray, which follows the dystopic advetures of Buffster's 24th-century successor. (Some will persuasively argue that this is Joss' best comics effort. I will counter with a spin move and the old axe-to-the-head. So watch it.)

So what's going on in the extended Buffyverse? Well, you may recall the show ended with the creation of an army of Slayers. Now they're organized, and the tide has turned in favor of the good guys. Ah, but you know how much Whedon hates winners: Soon an "old enemy" surfaces (Dark Horse is cagey on Big Bad's identity), and Dawn starts "experiencing serious growing pains." I hope that means the Scoobies will be fighting a mutant, undead Alan Thicke.

The book condenses the nearly 600-page federal report released by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States to fewer than 150 pages, and the creators say they hope their book will help attract young readers and others who might be overwhelmed by the original document. With sans-serif captions, artist renderings, charts and sound-describing words such as "Whooom!" and "R-rrumble," the adaptation recounts the attacks with parallel timelines of the four hijacked planes.

But can a topic as massive and sobering as Sept. 11 be dealt with effectively in the pages of a comic book?

When a first draft of the book came across his desk, Hill and Wang publisher Thomas LeBien said, he was "absolutely struck with it potentially being a wonderful idea."

Jacobson and Colon worked hard to "make sure we were both honest and respectful," LeBien said.

"Never before have I seen a non-fiction book as beautifully and compellingly written and illustrated as The 9/11 Report, A Graphic Adaptation. I cannot recommend it too highly. It will surely set the standard for all future works of contemporary history, graphic or otherwise, and should be required reading in every home, school and library."

This is the U.S. Postal Service's first stamp pane honoring comic book super heroes. Half of the pane of 20 stamps are portraits of: Aquaman, Batman, the Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Plastic Man, Supergirl, Superman and Wonder Woman. The other 10 stamps depict covers of individual comic books devoted to each super hero. DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz and some of the greatest comic book artists of all time will participate in the ceremony, followed by a panel discussion on the historical and cultural legacy of DC Comics Super Heroes. The stamps will be available in San Diego beginning July 20 and nationwide the next day

While HaperCollins will focus on marketing the titles and establishing in-store awareness for them (the HC sales team will also be distributing the titles), Fox Atomic will publicize the books online and through theatrical channels. Speaking to the partnership, HC head Jane Friedman said it allows HarperCollins to "expand our brand in the rapidly growing graphic novel market and within the core demographic of 16 – 34 year old male genre fans."

The first title scheduled from Fox Atomic Comics, in September 2007, is 28 Days Later: The Aftermath (which follows a chain of events that occurs between the 2002 film, 28 Days Later, and its sequel, due out in May 2007, 28 Weeks Later). Following that is The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning (based on the 2006 remake of the same name and its forthcoming sequel, The Hills Have Eyes 2), and a recurring collection of short tales called The Nightmare Factory (based on an anthology series by Thomas Ligotti). Both HC and Fox are owned by News Corp.

Rosario Dawson told SCI FI Wire that she's the inspiration for Sophia Cruz, the lead character in the comic-book series Occult Crimes Taskforce, coming in July from Image/12 Gauge Comics.

"Sophia was created by a family friend [writer David Atchison], who created the story and the character based on what he knows about me," said Dawson, who is serving as co-creator on the book. "He created the character out of my personality, my image, my background and my attitudes. When he brought the concept to me, it seemed like a good idea. I liked the idea of the character looking like me, and I loved the story idea, so I said, 'Sure.' It just seemed like the natural thing to do."

Occult Crimes Taskforce, with illustrations by Tony Shastee, tells the story of rookie detective Sophia Cruz, who is recruited into the ranks of the NYPD's covert police investigation unit whose primary duty is to monitor and control supernatural activity in the Manhattan underground. Dawson said that the comic is a mixture of The X-Files, Men in Black and The Matrix, but goes a lot deeper.

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Dawson, who starred in the comic-based Sin City, is a staunch supporter of comic books in their purest form and detests the trend toward "celebritizing" comics. But in the same breath, she admitted that her own celebrity made Occult Crimes Taskforce a much easier sell. "I know that the way we were able to get interest in this book was that my face was literally and figuratively attached to it," she said. "But this is not about me. The world that we're creating is the really cool part of this book. Believe me, this is a whole lot more than my making myself a sexy superhero just to feed my ego."

The Dark Horse comic, tied to Funcom's upcoming massively multiplayer online game Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, developed independently of the game, Dysart said in an interview. "I had absolutely no idea what was going on with the game when I sent my pitch in," Dysart said. "I wasn't in on the development of the game at all. All I knew was that Conan was the king of Aqualonia and that the comic had to depict some sort of life in that world."

The game centers on Conan as king of Aqualonia as he deals with ancient evils and dark forces that are abroad. The game features brutal combat and characters who meet uncertain destinies. For the comic, Dysart had to distill the game experience into a mere 16 pages. "Instead of actually following the narrative of what is essentially a never-ending mmo game, my job, with just 16 pages, was to set up the world so that certain elements of the game are established," he said. "Hopefully I've added some narrative propulsion to the idea."

The Age of Conan comic book, which features supplemental material by Tim Truman and the artwork of Tone Rodriguez and Cary Nord, was a constant challenge for the writer. "The biggest challenge was not really knowing what was going on with the game and then trying to get it all into 16 pages," he said. "I had to constantly keep changing story points. There were a lot of changes in the script and a lot of story mutations. But that's comics in general, especially when you're dealing with a licensed character."

Dysart will use the introductory Conan book as a jumping-off point for an original five-issue story arc titled Conan and the Midnight Gods, which will not be tied to the game. No release date for the series has been set. Funcom's Conan game will have its official launch in the fourth quarter of this year.

"I'm proud of who I am, and I'm here right now to prove it," the legendary webslinger tells a press conference called in New York's Times Square, before pulling off his mask and standing before the massed ranks of reporters as newspaper photographer Peter Parker.

"Any questions?" Parker asks in the final panel of the issue, amid a barrage of camera flashes.

In a statement, Marvel trumpeted the revelation as "arguably the most shocking event in comic book history."

The seven-issue "Civil War" series, launched in May, sees Marvel's writers taking on the topical issue of civil liberties.

Created by Jack Kirby in 1976, the Eternals have always had an…uncomfortable fit in the Marvel Universe. Created in the prehistory of earth by the space-faring busybodies known as the Celestials, the Eternals are a race of super-powered humanoids with a family tree that would make most Mormons sigh with envy.

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Traits: The Eternals' bodily cells contain cosmic energy, and they maintain constant mental control over every molecule of their bodies. Eternals are virtually immortal, and can be restored to life even if the molecules of their bodies are scattered. All Eternals possess the capacity for superhuman strength, telepathy, flight, teleportation, illusion-casting, transmutation of organic and inorganic matter, and the generation of various forms of energy from their bodies, including force, heat, light, and other electromagnetic radiation. Some Eternals have devoted themselves to specializing in a particular facet of their powers, and can increase their proficiency in one area by decreasing their power in another. The Eternal who serves as Prime Eternal can generate blue flame which will merge anyone who passes through it into a Uni-Mind, a powerful psychic entity which embodies the collective power of every individual who created it. A Uni-Mind requires the participation of at least seven Eternals in order to succeed.

After the show's overwhelming success earlier this year, when nearly 33,000 people attended the event—forcing fire marshals to turn ticket holders and exhibitors away at one point on Saturday because of overcrowding—the organizers of the con have decided to move its location to the more spacious third floor of the Jacob Javits Center, which will double the Con's size and allow more booth space to be rented when the show bows on Feb. 23-25.

"For a first time show, normally the worry is will anyone show up," said Greg Topalian, Group Vice President in charge of Launch Pad for Reed Exhibitions. "It was quite the opposite."

But for the 2007 edition of the show, there will be room for twice as many booths, the aisles will be twice the size and the lobby will be five times the size to make it feel less congested. Also, tickets bought ahead of time will be mailed directly to purchasers to make it easier to enter, and tickets will be cheaper for those who purchase ahead of time, a move strongly suggested by show officials.

"The more that we sell in advance, the easier it is to say to others that we're sold out," said Topalian. "That way they don't come down, park, and waste a day."

IGN sought comment on this from the film's writer-director, David Hayter, who confirmed the bad news. Hayter told IGN that after Lionsgate dropped Black Widow, "Marvel and I then spoke to a few other financing entities, but I never felt comfortable that we had found a place that was willing to take the movie, and the character, seriously."

He continued, "I have put it aside until a reputable studio comes along, but in the meantime, I am heartbroken. I love this character, I love the story/world we came up with for her, and I sincerely hope the movie gets done some day. In the meantime, I am creating an original feature to shoot next year."

Comic industry veteran Maria Paz Cabardo (Pokemon; Magic: The Gathering; Vertigo comics) helped connect Bungie with artists and writers beyond their own staff. Among them: the famed comic artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud, well-known Japanese manga artist/writer Tsutomu Nihei and writer Jay Faerber, who has worked on several Marvel series.

Once they had the makings of a project, the novel was pitched to publishers, and Marvel won out. "The Halo Graphic Novel is true to the vision, scope and spirit of the Halo universe. It is dynamic, engaging and cinematic," Jayatilleke says.

The plots for the four stories in the novel came from Bungie's "Halo Story Bible," which details the underpinnings for the game universe: a sci-fi epic that involves a Starship Troopers-like Master Chief battling aliens. "The graphic novel was a chance for us to expand outward and fill in some of the fictional gaps and provide insight into events that tie into the more mainstream stories," Jarrard says. "These four were the most interesting to us, and the writers, for this project."

Once the stories were chosen, artists were paired with writers. "The stress was to make the characters look very much as they do in the game. Beyond that point I was given free rein to interpret the script and the action," says Simon Bisley, who illustrates the longest story in the book, the 48-page The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor, written by Lee Hammock, a game designer and DC Comics veteran.

A graphic novel adaptation of The 9/11 Commission Report is set to hit bookstores this fall. The 9/11 Report, A Graphic Adaptation whittles the more than 500-page report down to less than 150 pages of comic-book style imagery.

Two U.S. comic book veterans carried the project out: former Harvey Comics editor Sid Jacobson and comic book illustrator Ernie Colon, who in the past worked on characters ranging from Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich to Spiderman and Wonder Woman. Published by the Hill and Wang division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, The 9/11 Report, A Graphic Adaptation will be available in September. The book will be the publisher's first in a series of graphic non-fiction titles, with future projects to include graphic biographies of U.S. civil rights leader Malcolm X and former U.S. president Ronald Reagan.

In 2002, the U.S. Congress established the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States to investigate the events and circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The group, informally known as the 9/11 Commission, issued its 567-page final report in 2004. Though available for free download, the lucid, accessible report became one of 2005's bestselling non-fiction books, selling more than one million copies altogether, in paperback and hardcover editions. The team behind the upcoming graphic novel adaptation has said they hope their project will allow the report to reach an even wider audience of readers.

SLG Publishing and Disney bring a thrilling new chapter to the Tron story with Tron: The Ghost in the Machine, a comic book written by Landry Walker and Eric Jones (Little Gloomy, X-Ray Comics) and drawn by Louie De Martinis. Tron: The Ghost in the Machine picks up where the critically-acclaimed video game Tron 2.0 leaves off, bringing you the same thrill