The painfully mediocre title will be one of six books that DC is canceling to make room for a ‘new wave’ of comics added to their New 52 roster. The other sacrifices are O.M.A.C, BLACKHAWKS, MISTER TERRIFIC, STATIC SHOCK, and MEN OF WAR. Fortunately, none of these are the wonderful worlds of monstrous mayhem praised in our previous article. Jeff Lemire even plans to bring his Frankenstein character into the eighth and final issue of MEN OF WAR, giving monster kids an extra reason to buy it.

On another bright side, one of the replacements in store at DC will be DIAL H, helmed by China Miéville (KRAKEN, IRONSIDE, THE CITY & THE CITY)—one of the best science fiction/fantasy writers working today—in his comics debut, with art by Mateus Santoluoco. It should be fascinating to watch how Miéville’s Lovecraftian ‘weird fiction’ sensibilities affect the world of superpowers.

The planned cover for DIAL H #1 by Brian Bolland. Creeped out yet?

The other new titles? BATMAN INCORPORATED (which should make a bunch of Grant Morrison fans happy), EARTH 2, WORLD’S FINEST, G.I. COMBAT, and THE RAVAGERS.

For more details on DC’s ‘New Wave’, visit their blog.

In horror comics news, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT creator Steve Niles will have a few new projects to announce on Monday, one of which may involve artist Menton3, who is currently blowing our minds with IDW’s MONOCYTE. That should be a combo to wait for.

STITCHED
Garth Ennis & Mike Wolfer, writers
Mike Wolfer, artist
Avatar

It may not be overwhelmingly intellectual, but the supernatural war story that Garth Ennis began in a short film and continued in comics has me rather rapt. It’s rough and debased and ready to shock, like all his best stories. Avatar press is never afraid to go there. And the thought of a deadly demon summoned by an aluminum can attacking you while you relieve yourself in the desert is… well. Mommy?

SWAMP THING
Scott Snyder, writer
Yanick Paquette & Marco Rudy, artists
DC

Regular people think kids are cute. Horror gurus know better. Kids are creepy. Just ask THE OMEN, THE SIXTH SENSE, THE EXORCIST, THE BAD SEED… or any other number of iconic horror stories. And since SWAMP THING is the kind of story in which the protagonist is a giant green plant monster, you know the villains are going to be seriously messed up. Sure enough, Issue 3 brings a horrifying child-thing into the mix—one who wears a creepy-looking oxygen mask and makes people’s cavities explode into alien-like tumors when they give him the wrong milkshake flavor. Yikes.

MONOCYTE
menton3 and Kasra Ghanbari, writers
menton3, artist
IDW

What I like best about MONOCYTE is that, despite the truly bizarre and terrible subject matter, it’s not afraid to be poetic. And that, in this day of “Get to the action as soon as possible!”, is something to be admired. The olignostics are truly creatures of your worst nightmares, the art is breathtaking, and the words are still important. Doubt me? Read it. If the preview of Issue 2 is any indication, this mysterious and almost gothic ride doesn’t show signs of lessening its impact.

SEVERED
Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft, writers
Attila Futaki, artist
Image

There’s a scene in SEVERED #5 during which an old man swings a delighted child around like an airplane. A common occurrence—not usually associated with terror, to be sure. But because of context, and because readers know about the old man’s true nature (shark teeth—yikes), the moment appears exaggerated and slightly horrifying. SEVERED is full of moments like this. It’s subtle and visceral and, while not always scary in the traditional sense, offers plenty of plot twists and turns that catch you off guard at all the right times.

SUICIDE SQUAD
Adam Glass, writer
Federico Dallocchio, artist
DC

Okay, so Harley Quinn’s kinda cool. Deadshot? Sure. Suicidal missions involving zombie plagues and a pregnant squid creature? Even better. But, monster fans, allow me to introduce you to King Shark: A half-man, half-shark thing with a wicked appetite who walks around in a codpiece, eats people and chickens with equal gusto, and contributes most readily to conversations by chanting “MEAT! MEAT!” If that’s not iconic monsterdom, I don’t know what is. (Heads up: SUICIDE SQUAD is also being penned by Adam Glass, who has a little bit to do with that show they call SUPERNATURAL.)

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E.
Jeff Lemire, writer
Alberto Ponticelli, artist
DC

If you’re looking for a new twist on a classic character, this is your stop. If you’re looking for legions of sharp-toothed demons attacking innocent people, pick up this comic. If you’re looking for… hell. Just read it. Jeff Lemire (also currently penning ANIMAL MAN, another firecracker) has managed to turn Frankenstein into a swashbuckling secret agent of the DC Universe—as well as bring a wolf man, a vampire, a mummy, a lagoon “creature”, and the Bride of Frankenstein along for the crazy ride. It’s like hallucinating while having a Universal Monsters movie marathon. And trust me—you’re going to need popcorn.

CRIMINAL MACABRE
Steve Niles, writer
Christopher Mitten, (current) artist
Dark Horse

Although there has been a recent trend of monster-mash mystery comics (Are you listening, LEGION OF MONSTERS?), nobody solves supernatural cases with more hardcore, drug-induced gusto than Cal McDonald. CRIMINAL MACABRE, currently being published in segments in DARK HORSE PRESENTS, has been following Cal’s monstrous adventures for years, and the guy’s exploits are still entertaining—whether they involve ghouls, werewolves, Nosferatu, demon babies, vampire sex, mud-Yetis, or flying brains. Here’s hoping for a drunken face off against Cthulhu in the future.

HAPPY HORRORDAYS! Be good and hope Krampus doesn’t come for you.

The article mentioned that the prologue will only screen at 70mm IMAX screens, not smaller or low-res digital IMAX screens.

Do you think the prologue is going to play in front of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? Are you interested in seeing MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL or will you go see it just for the chance to get a taste of RISES?

Kotobukiya’s DC Comics x Bishoujo Statue Series
honored by Warner Bros.

Kotobukiya is proud to announce that we have been awarded Best Hardlines (Retail Product) Licensee by Warner Bros. Consumer Products for our DC Comics x Bishoujo Statue Series.
Kotobukiya’s long time partnership with Warner Bros. led to the development of the DC Comics x Bishoujo Statue Series, which has been highly praised for its uniquely Japanese interpretation of popular DC superheroes under the artistic direction of Shunya Yamashita.

These annual Warner Bros. Awards are bestowed to a select number of companies (from over 60 countries) that Warner Bros. Consumer Products have partnered up with. There are 5 main categories for the awards, and it is given to the most outstanding licensees or projects. Companies are evaluated on criteria ranging from “contract scale”, “media value”, “enhancement of property value”, and “strategic significance”.

Under the international category this year, 3 out of 5 awards were given to Japanese companies with remarkable accomplishments; amongst them were Toyota, UNIQLO and Kotobukiya. The results for the 2010 awards were first announced this past June in Los Angeles at the main office of Warner Bros. Consumer Products. For the Japanese companies, the awards reception was held at The Ritz Carlton in Tokyo on December 8th.

For more information about Kotobukiya please visit:
http://www.kotous.com/

About Kotobukiya:
With over 50 years experience in the toy industry, Kotobukiya has grown into Japan’s number one collector toy company, with a peerless reputation for quality and craftsmanship. Many international fans first learned of Kotobukiya from the famous line of Final Fantasy merchandise, and more recently, collectors have been thrilled by Kotobukiya’s high end line of Star Wars and Batman ARTFX Statues. Kotobukiya is always striving to further improve the material, detail, and design of all products. Kotobukiya continues to attract the attention of not only top artistic talents, but also the favor of publishers and licensors who wish to work with only the best the toy and collectibles industry has to offer.

The evening opened with Human Target, a new series from Fox starring Mark Valley as Christopher Chance. Based on the popular DC Comics comic book and graphic novel, Human Target is about a brave, selfless man who makes himself a “human target” in order to save the lives of people in danger. Valley’s character got big laughs from the crowd, despite the distraction of the action drama’s thrilling plot. Human Target will premiere on Fox January 17, 2010.

Next up was V, a television series remake of the cult ’80s favorite also revolving around “The Visitors,” which is the name given to the alien race who disguise themselves as humans on earth. The screening’s audience members were obviously drawn to the technological advancement of the new V, in comparison to the original. It is executive produced by the 4400 creator Scott Peters, Jason Hall, Steve Pearlman and Jeffrey Bell and is based on the science-fiction franchise created by Kenneth Johnson. The pilot covers the basic idea of the series – the world awakens to find spaceships hovering over all major cities. This visually appealing scene is followed by aliens who look human and claim to come in peace. However, some, including agent Erica Evans, are skeptical. FM doesn’t want to spoil the pilot for you, so check it out on ABC in 2010.

The final pilot at this year’s Comic-Con International Preview Night included the exclusive screening of The Vampire Diaries which is scheduled to air on The CW Thursday nights at 8 p.m. starting September 10. The show will be sure to grab the attention of Twilight fans, due to a very similar premise and an eye-catching cast. Like Twilight, The Vampire Diaries is also based on a series of young adult novels. Even after sitting through two full pilots, viewers had their eyes glued to the screen for The Vampire Diaries until to the very end. Cheers and applause prove that many seemed to be pleased with the show that will take the former spot of Smallville this Fall.

Comic-Con fans got lucky this year- each pilot was better than the next.

Warner Bros. first announced the movie adaptation in 2007 with plans set for a December 17, 2010 release date. Filming is scheduled to begin in Australia in mid-September.

Created in 1940 for the All-American Comics #16 by writer Bill Finger and the late artist Martin Nodell, the Green Lantern possesses a power ring that gives the user great control over the physical world as long as the wielder has sufficient willpower and strength to wield it.

Along with DC Comics’ Jonah Hex, The Green Lantern has been classified as a hot, hot title.

Malkovich will play Turnbull, a wealthy Southern plantation owner whose son is killed by Union soldiers during the Civil War. He blames Hex, a former confederate soldier-turned-hardened bounty hunter and gunslinger.

Legendary Pictures will now help co-finance the project to be directed by Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears a Who) from a screenplay by Crank scribes Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.

Shooting will begin in April 2009. Stay tuned for more updates!

In an interview with writer/director David Goyer IESB.net reports that Warner Bothers has put all of their upcoming DC Comic productions on hold for the time being while they apparently do some restructuring.

In the interview Goyer says,

“A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while they figure out, they’re going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause on at the moment. It was the double header of both Iron Man and The Dark Knight coming out, so more than ever I think they’ve realized, I think DC was responsible for 15% of Warner Brothers’ revenue this year, something crazy like that, so they realized that comic books, it’s become a new genre, one of the most successful genres.”

All I can say is it’s about time. Comic book films are like the westerns and sci-fi films of the past and I think I can speak for most of us when I say I can’t wait for what’s to come.

Check out Darkhorizons and IESB for more details.

The recent success of sophisticated comic-book adaptations is the main reason for Beyoncé’s interest, she said, but her focus on Wonder Woman was intensified earlier this year when she saw Lynda Carter’s costume from the 1970s television show on display at the Costume Institute’s “Superhero” show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Wonder Woman costume is an “unforgiving one” she tells LA Times. “I would definitely have to keep it right for that costume. The way that Lynda Carter wore it, she was sooo fine. She was amazing. I saw her costume at the Met. Her waist was unbelievable. It was pretty crazy, actually, her proportions. But I love Wonder Woman and it’d be a dream come true to be that character. It sure would be handy to have that lasso. To make everybody tell the truth? I need that. It would come in very handy.”

On Beyonce’s latest project, a thriller titled Obsessed, she experienced her first brawl for the camera and hence now she is ready to be a superhero. “I play a wife fighting for her family and I have this big, big fighting scene with Ali Larter, who is an incredible actress. It took us days just to film it. I had my boots on and, wow, I got into it. So I really want that now. Now I have to do an action film. It’s like dancing and choreography. And the superhero movies now, they’re not corny, not corny at all, so that’s what I want to do. And I would love if it could be Wonder Woman.”

“I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman? It would be great,” she tells the LA Times. “And it would be a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It’s time for that, right?”

Beyonce’s right. It would be a powerful thing, only she just doesn’t sound passionate enough about the character. Already two attempts have been made to develop a Wonder Woman project—the first in 2001 by producer Joel Silver and the second in 2005 that spanned two years before Joss Whedon departed from the project in February 2007 citing “script differences” with Warner Bros. I would not object to a squashed 3rd attempt if the pieces don’t fit for a proper picture. What’s your take? Do you feel Beyonce should don the red, white, and blue suit? Read the full interview here.

“Writer Brian Azzarello and artist Lee Bermejo’s “Joker” — which hits shelves October 29 — paints the “Clown Prince of Crime” as a sadistic, unpredictable and absurdly violent psychopath, or in other words, exactly the way the character should be portrayed. And while the story takes place well-outside the realm of Christopher Nolan’s vision of Gotham City, if you liked “The Dark Knight,” “Joker” is a must-have for your bookshelf.”

“The story — narrated through the voice of one of the Joker’s recently-hired goons — follows the just-released-from-Arkham Asylum villain as he seeks to reclaim his rightful spot at the top of Gotham criminal hierarchy by any means necessary. In order to get to that spot again, he’ll have to face the rest of Gotham’s top dogs — including Two-Face, The Riddler, Killer Croc and the Penguin.”