The dislike for Dan DiDio is so strong that now film industry people are reporting on it!

The problem isn’t just that, under DiDio’s leadership, fanboys are disappointed with the directions of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and other characters. (How dopey of DiDio to come out with a new series Decisions this September where the superheroes take political stands timed to the election.) Little wonder that fanboys are selling “Dan DiDio Must Die” t-shirts. But also average sales of the DCU line are down more than 20% from a year ago, and DiDio has lost a big chunk of existing readers in a year while deliberately failing to reach out to new ones.

Click this link to see the first quick glimpse of Two-Face from “Dark Knight.”

Better watch the Jokerized version of the “Dark Knight” trailer before it’s yanked.

“Watchmen” is holding a contest that could earn you a cameo in the final film. What they want is for people to make a commercial for Veidt Enterprise and to upload it here (there are also logos and graphics).

To get started, download the standard definition and/or high definition assets from the links below, and then shoot your own original TV commercial that advertises one of the products! Remember, the movie is set in 1985, so TV commercials should be in 4:3 aspect ratio (so it looks like standard TV, not widescreen) and they should be either 15, 30 or 60 seconds in length. The products are all made by “Veidt Enterprises,” and you can download the product logos for your use as well.

20th Century Fox filed suit against Warner Brothers claiming that they own the movie rights to the best selling graphic novel. The lawsuit isn’t inspected to hinder production, but it could delay or completely stop the film from being released.

Fox claims that between 1986 and 1990, it acquired all movie rights to the 12-issue DC Comics series and screenplays by Charles McKeown and Sam Hamm. In 1991, Fox assigned some rights via a quitclaim to Largo International with the understanding that the studio held exclusive rights to distribute the first motion picture based on “Watchmen,” according to the lawsuit.

When Largo dismantled, the rights were transferred to producer Lawrence Gordon. Under a “turnaround agreement” between Fox and Gordon, the producer agreed to pay a buy-out price to Fox if he entered into any agreement with another studio or third party to develop or produce “Watchmen,” among other things.

The project apparently bounced around to Universal and Paramount before returning to Warners. Now, Fox claims that neither Gordon nor Warners has paid the buy-out price or advised the studio of any other conditions required under the agreement, including procedures necessary to acquire the rights to “Watchmen” from Fox.

“The Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan revealed to The Los Angeles Times that despite his major presence in the trailer, the upcoming “Batman Begins” sequel is far from a Joker-centric affair. 

He says the character “sort of cuts through the film — he’s got no story arc, he’s just a force of nature tearing through. Heath has given an amazing performance in the role, it’s really extraordinary.”

TV Guide is reporting the following:

Keri Russell is in advanced talks to voice the title role in Warner Bros’ straight-to-DVD animated Wonder Woman feature. The flick, which is slated for release in late ‘08/early ‘09, is part of a new line of DVD feature adaptations by Warner Bros.

The next DC animated film to be released is “Justice League: New Frontier” which will be followed by “Gotham Knight” and then the “Wonder Woman” film. I also want to point out that AA really isn’t too “in touch” with the comic book world but he’s obsessed with Keri Russel, so even though no one else is reporting this yet, I believe him.

This is the poster that was released today.

The above pics (click to enlarge) are the newest promos for “The Dark Knight.”

“Watchmen” director Zach Snyder shares the first stills of sets as well as some weird facts.

Here are a few interesting facts about the backlot:
• 5,800 feet of neon requiring 24,000 watts of power
• 100 unique and custom-designed graphics created for the various storefronts
• 5,000 square feet of custom posters (Read on …)

I’m up to Week 22 and I’m sad to say that I’m going to end the 52 days of “52.” It’s not because I can’t keep up, because I have then written up to Week 30. The problem is no one is reading these posts. I keep a pretty good eye on the stats to my site and I think there is only one person who has read everyone of these posts. Now if you are that one person and you are really enjoying these, just post a comment below letting me know and I’ll continue doing them. Otherwise I just don’t feel like investing the time to typing these all up if no one is reading them.

It’s really hard to share my thoughts when nothing really happens. This issue focused almost solely on Lex Luther’s team of superheroes. Basically he let a girl, who he had kicked off the team, back on to it. Then when she was fighting a bad-guy, Lex turned off her powers, letting her get killed. He then used her death as a big media stunt. (Read on …)

So Supernova busts into Wayne Manor and the Bat Cave and steals… the infinity gauntlet? I know this is the DC Universe but whatever the glove was that Supernova stole it seriously looked like Marvel’s Infinity Gantlet. And of course because this is DC, no time is spent anywhere in the issue to explain what the glove really is or what it can do. (Read on …)

Dude, I was so right back in Week 2 when I said there was something wrong with Skeets and then I was right again when I said Booster Gold wasn’t dead!

It turns out that in Week 6, when Booster visited that secret lab, he figured out something very important. Something in the future, something bad, was going to be his fault. He also realized that something was wrong with Skeetz. So he faked his death! (Read on …)

Mark Bagley, most known for his extra-long stint on “Ultimate Spider-Man,” is moving to DC Comics. Newsarama broke the story but neither DC nor Bagley are sharing quotes or answering questions.

One of the “special” few who have been hand picked to appear on the Zuda site is already having problems. It seems that Zuda decided to edit the work without informing the creator:

THEY OMITTED THE LAST AND FINAL PAGE OF THE JESUS COMIC. In the comic, I’m being handed a towel by the Savior and then—nothing. It’s bad enough that already complaint-comments are coming in about how disjointed ‘This American Strife’ is when it’s meant to have no continuity (particularly compared to all the other competitors). That page gave finality and resolution to what can otherwise be interpreted as offensive and I really feel that I should have been informed that the final page wouldn’t make the final cut.

You can read the whole thing, with tons and tons more details, here.

This is probably the first issue of “52” where I’m confused on what exactly is going on. I mean, who are all the characters that just randomly show up in this freaking issue? There should be a rule that if you introduce a talking monkey who dresses like Sherlock Holmes then you need to explain who the character is. Then at the very least you need to identify all the other characters by name that are with him. Damn you DC! (Read on …)

I’ve not mentioned covers at all, but I think I finally should. All of the covers for “52” have looked great, but this week’s cover seriously made me crack up. It brakes the fourth wall and mocks the cover to week one. It also sets the tone for the rest of the issue which is very humorous. (Read on …)

Dang, Black Adam proposed to Adriana/Isis. They didn’t met all that long ago. It was kind of creepy when he helped give her powers, but its super creepy that he proposed so soon. The two characters really don’t know each other all that well. (Read on …)

Do the writers think we are stupid? Are we really supposed to believe that Booster Gold is dead? I mean I know I’m biased because he’s my favorite character of the series, but just generally speaking, there is no reason they would kill one of the MAIN characters off at only Week 15. (Read on …)

The big thing that happens this week is that one of the small subplots finally grows into a larger story. Ever since week one I’ve said the Doc Magnus/Doc Morrow scenes felt weird and out of place. They kept creeping up enough to make you go “huh?” but not enough was truly shared to make it clear what they were about. (Read on …)

Did you hear about “The War Room” aver at “The Watchmen” movie site?

It’s a huge space. We used this room frequently for meetings during pre-production. Surrounding the many seats and long tables in the middle of the room, all the walls are covered and sectioned off into individual scenes – all the concept art, visual reference and any other related materials are grouped together for display.

Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, announced that he will be playing Black Adam in the “Shazam” movie.

Black Adam is a super human who is the flipside of Captain Marvel, according to Wikipedia. “When I was doing the junket for the Game Plan, someone had asked me about Shazam! again, and I said, ‘Well, to be honest with you, … what I would like to see is for the fans to decide who they would like me to play,’” Johnson said, adding: “Considering how passionate the fans are about this, I said, ‘I don’t believe it’s up to the studio or the director or myself.’ So there’s [Captain Marvel]. And there’s Black Adam. And I said, ‘So, you guys let me know who?’ And across the board, it was all Black Adam.”

Damn, what an intense issue. This week really upped the notch by focusing mostly on Ralph Dibny and the cult storyline. This issue also marks the end of Act I, if we were to divide all of 52 into a traditional 3-act structure, which may be why this issue was so plot/action packed. (Read on …)

I had wondered why Black Adam had a lightning bolt across his chest like the one Shazam does. So it was interesting to find out that Black Adam used to be a Captain Marvel. I guess this is just one of those things DC fans automatically know, but it would have been nice if earlier in the series, when characters were introduced we learned more about their background. …but DC doesn’t cater to the non-fanboy. (Read on …)

Almost this whole issue was devoted to the Reene Montoya & Question storyline. To be honest it was nice to have an issue focus on just one thing. The two end up tracking down some people and get into trouble, but at the last minute they are saved by the new Batwoman. (Read on …)

This showed up several weeks ago, but I didn’t mention it. Black Adam is forming a coalition of super-powered folk to represent different nations. Most of which are bad places like China, Iran, and such. So this week kicks off during a meeting between Black Adam and new recruits to the coalition. (Read on …)

Alright there apparently is more to Steel’s new power. Not only is he made of steel now but he can shoot molten steel at people (which looks like lightning and explains why like four weeks ago I first thought he had lighting powers). (Read on …)

Early in this issue there is a scene where Ralph Dibny visits Green Arrows city to track down part of the Conner Resurrection Cult. The scene ends with Ralph saying “… …can come back from the dead…” and that’s it. He also has a ghastly shocked look on his face. But it’s never revealed what he’s looking at! (Read on …)

Remember how in week six I was complaining about Booster crossing the line? Well its nice to know that the writers have him paying the consequences already. Not only did he get ousted for being a con-artist but it was great to have Ralph Dibny (who we’ve not seen a few weeks) go to Booster for help and then when Booster didn’t help him he totally ripped Booster a new one in front of the media. So now everyone knows Booster has had some fraudulent rescues. (Read on …)

What the heck happened? Booster Gold has been a character I’ve really liked. He’s a fame-whore and it just makes sense to have a super-hero like that. But paying someone to dress up as a villain just so you can stop them for a publicity stunt? That’s crossing the line in my book. That’s just pathetic. And I’m not sure if I buy that the character would stoop that low. Which makes me think this only happened because the writers needed it to happen not because Booster would actually do it. (Read on …)

This is the first issue to really only focus on one storyline. I’m mean sure you have a single panel-appearances of Booster Gold and Renee Montoya shows up for like 3 pages, but everything else in this issue is about the heroes who were in space at the end of “Infinite Crisis.” (Read on …)

David Dobkins, who did “The Wedding Crashers” and “Fred Claus” has been hired to direct “The Flash” movie. The film will focus on Wally West and will somehow be tied to the CGI “Justice League Movie,” though all other details are being kept hush-hush.

There was a sequence within this issue that broke the fourth wall in a way I found humorous. The issue starts off with Renee Montoya doing a stakeout for The Question. She talks about how boring it is and nothing is really going on. She even has a notepad where she writes “Day 9: Nothing” “Day 10: Nothing” up to Day 13 were still nothing has happened. (Read on …)

What I find most shocking about this issue is that the DC Universe has a New York city in it! I had no idea. It’s just weird. So it was a surprise to find out that Black Adam was opening an embassy there.

Another weird thing is that they are really putting “52” into as many numbers as possible. STAR Labs has a secret project called “The NX-520,” remember last week an address was given at 520 Kane street, and then Black Adam says that 5,079,432 died in “Infinite Crisis” …if you cut out all the middle numbers you get “52.” (Read on …)

Things are moving along, but a little bit slower than last issue. Week two seemed to really focus on Booster Gold, Ralph Dibny and Renee Montoya. Then there is one really odd scene between two scientist, Doc Magnus and Master Mind.

The oddest thing of the issue had to be the several-page long scene between these two. In one sense the conversations seems very “preachy” about A.I. sentient beings and all that sci-fi mumbo jumbo. It also seems out of place and doesn’t really fit in with anything else happening in the first two issues. I mean why was this scene here? Why are we being introduced to these characters now? Clearly Master Mind and all this A.I. stuff is going to appear later in the series in a prominent way, ‘cause otherwise, why would they waste time with this scene in issue two? (Read on …)

This is clearly a set up issue. We are introduced to the people who I’m assuming will be the main cast throughout the series and we get a glimpse of their stories. The cast includes, Renee Montoya, The Question, Steel, Steel’s Niece, Booster Gold, Skeets, Black Adam, and the Elongated Man.

What really strikes me as interesting in this first book is that not only are the characters established but their personalities are established too. It’s done in such a way that it feels like the characters might actually grow and change. They may have a real story arch and that’s something you rarely see in comics from the Big Two because normally its all about the status quo. So if anything I’m actually excited to be reading this. (Read on …)

I finally got all 52 issues of DC’s weekly series “52” and I’ve decided to read one issue a day. Then, after reading each issue I’ll make a blog post about it. The post will not exactly be a review or a summary. It will be my reaction to the to plot and characters. This experiment should be interesting and if it goes well maybe I’ll make these type of posts regularly.

This is great! Mark Millar is totally reaping what he sowed. For those of you who don’t know, Millar is a comic book writer who has a habit of being a dick on the internet. Of course a lot of creators are like that, but what truly makes Millar different is the air of arrogance that surrounds him. He just makes himself so unlikable.

So it cracks me up that just a few days ago he started a grass-roots campaign to get himself hired to write the sequel to “Superman Returns.” What’s great about it is that the studio told him “no” because of who he is!

Well, sadly, I’m a Marvel guy and we were surprised to find out that WB couldn’t hire me for a DC property. They were incredibly nice and superbly apologetic about it, but when they discussed the matter seriously DC explained just how associated I am with Marvel Comics at the moment and it’s against company policy to hire the competition.

So if Millar hadn’t made a billion posts this past year about how DC sucks and about how if he worked for DC he would fix everyone of their titles and raise their sales to 300k then there is a good chance he could have gotten hired by Hollywood.

I got a press release int he mail today saying that Zuda comics will launch on October 30th. You all may remember that they are the ones owned by DC and had the controversy involving creator-rights.  I’ve posted the press release after the break: (Read on …)