Disney’s ‘DigiComics’ iPhone App Launching Worldwide In 2010

Disney is rolling out a digital comics application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch and Sony’s PlayStation Portable globally beginning in Italy and soon to include the U.S. and UK, with rollouts in key markets throughout the world in 2010.

Disney DigiComics will begin by offering a relatively modest fifty downloadable comics featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and other familiar Disney characters via in-app purchases, according to the Disney Comics Worldwide blog. The company will then begin adding five to ten new comics weekly, continuing storylines.

The comics were originally created for newspapers and magazines in Disney-crazy Italy, though in the future new content may be created just for the application. Series available first, according to the report, are X-Mickey, Wizards of Mickey, The Canterville Ghost, and Phantom of the Opera. Wizards of Mickey is published in the States by Boom! Studios (see “Boom’s Disney Standards”).

Up to 50,000 stories from the Disney archives are eventually planned for release through the app, according to Italy.

The new application represents a divergence from Disney’s digital strategy for desktop, where it’s pursuing a subscription model. Disney Books is now offering over 500 titles online by subscription for an annual fee of $79.95 (see “Disney Makes Children’s Books Available Online”).

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DC’s ‘Blackest Night’s’ Reign Continues

Thanks largely to the success of its Blackest Night event, DC dominated the top ten once again with eight out of the top ten titles in November. Blackest Night #5 actually boosted its circulation by 5% with help from a special ordering incentive that featured seven differently colored "Lantern Promotional Rings." A similar promotion was potent enough to lift Booster Gold #26 into the top 25 at #19. Four other Blackest Night tie-ins, Green Lantern #48, Justice League of America #39, Adventure Comics #4, and Green Lantern Corps #42 all made the top ten.

The top Marvel title was Captain America: Reborn #4, which came in at #3, didn’t ship in November where its absence hurt the Marvel line-up, which couldn’t manage better than a seventh place finish. Marvel still managed to secure 14 out of the top 25 spots with 25th place going to the Thor Giant Size Finale written by JMS, which in spite of a slew of variant incentives (1:25 and 1:50), suffered an 18% decline in sales from the previous JMS issue (#603), which came out in September.

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Jack Kirby Estate Goes After Marvel Properties

It’s as inevitable as the tides. Once something becomes a genuine industry to the tune of a $4 billion dollar marriage, the lawsuits quickly follow. On the heels of the Siegel and Shuster lawsuits that dismantled the world of Clark Kent comes a lawsuit from the estate of Jack Kirby that targets all things Marvel. According to The New York Times, the Kirby heirs have sent 45 notices of copyright infringement to Marvel, Disney, Paramount, Fox, Sony, Universal, Hasbro, and just about everyone else in the world. Kirby created (or co-created alongside Stan Lee) just about all the big Marvel characters so anyone using them must now face the the Kirbys and Toberoff & Associates. (The same law firm that handled the Siegel and Shuster lawsuits, which is no coincidence.)

The Kirbys seek to win the copyrights back to Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, etc., and claim some (or all) of the profits. If they win back the copyright, it wouldn’t kick in until 2014 so presumably they wouldn’t be able to claim the “back profits” the characters have made, but anything going forward would be a problem. As Bleeding Cool notes, Disney and Marvel will always own the trademarks, and the movie studios would probably also be safe in their acquisitions, but continuing to publish anything Kirby created would be problematic.

The attorney Marc Toberoff declined to comment on the case, but Disney released an official statement that shrugged off the lawsuit, noting “the notices involved are an attempt to terminate rights 7 to 10 years from now, and involve claims that were fully considered in the acquisition.” This will undoubtedly be a case fraught with as many tangles as the Siegel and Shuster suit was. Will Marvel end up owning Iron Man’s armor, but the Kirbys will own Tony Stark and Pepper Potts? Will it create problems for Marvel Studios down the line? We shall watch and see.

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San Diego Comic-Con Wraps Up Another Great Year

<–Chairman of Comic-Con’s first committee Ken Krueger

The 40th annual San Diego Comic-Con wrapped up Sunday, with another capacity crowd enjoying a smoothly run show. Ken Krueger, the chairman of the very first Comic-Con, was one of several members of the original organizing committee who were invited back to celebrate the 40th anniversary. Other committee members from Comic-Con’s early years were also present as guests.

The massive presence from Hollywood shifted a bit this year, with a greater emphasis on television. Comic-Con Director of Marketing and Public Relations David Glanzer described the shift. “There was certainly a lot more presence from television this year,” he said. “And there may have been less movies in some instances. But not everybody has a project they want to promote to this group every year.”

We asked Glanzer about the continual sellouts of the show, which are capping its growth. “The mayor has appointed a task force on the expansion of the convention center, and they will render a decision on that in September and the mayor says that he will abide by whatever their recommendation is,” he said.

The convention utilized tents for some signing space, as well as the main ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront as additional space this year, and use of outside space may grow in the coming years, Glanzer told us. And although the convention did not increase the number of tickets this year despite the additional space, that step may be taken in future years, allowing a greater number of attendees despite a maxed-out convention center. .

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‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Releases Issue #600

“The Amazing Spider-Man” hit another milestone this week-the publication of its 600th issue.

As a celebration, the issue features the return of Doctor Octopus, a guest spot by Daredevil, a wedding and the return of Mary Jane Watson.   In addition, there are several short stories by some of the iconic writers for everyone’s favorite web-slinger, including a new story by Stan Lee.

This milestone in the making will feature four different covers by father and son artists John Romita Sr, John Romita Jr, master painter Alex Ross and Marvel Editor in Chief, Joe Quesada.

The issue weighs in at 104 pages and is currently available at a comic store near you.

Is J. Michael Straczynski leaving Thor?

By the beard of Odin! Can this be true?!

Comixtreme has reported that Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski will be concluding his epic run of Thor in September, with Thor: Defining Moments Giant-Size #1.

This book was not in last week’s previews, but Comixtreme says that this new solicit — which will be in July’s issue of Previews — declares that Defining Moments will be Straczynski’s bow from the series.

This may signal a shift for Straczynski, who ended his exclusive contract with Marvel in February of 2008 to pursue some writing opportunities with DC Comics. Thor, while critically acclaimed by many, has also been a perennially late title, so a creative shift may put the book on a more frequent schedule.

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Captain America Coverage - Mainstream Media

After the New York Daily News broke the Return of Captain America story yesterday morning other media outlets including The New York Times, USA Today, and CNN quickly picked up on the coverage.

Although the original Daily News story did not mention the tie-in between the Captain America: Reborn mini-series and Captain America #600, which went on sale on Monday, both the New York Times story (by George Gene Gustines) and the CNN Report (by Chris Kokenes) did mention Captain America #600.

Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show added an economic perspective to the story, quipping: “It’s been reported that Marvel Comics is getting set to bring back Captain America. They’re going to do this as soon as they get a loan from Captain China.”

Here’s a list of other media outlets that have picked up the story:

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Marvel Brings Back Original ‘Human Torch’ In New Series

On the “Fresh Ink” portion of G4’s Attack of the Show, Blair Butler announced that as part of the celebration of its 70th Anniversary, Marvel Comics is resurrecting the original, non-Fantastic Four Human Torch, who debuted in 1939 in Marvel Comics #1, which was published by Marvel precursor Timely Comics. Golden Age maven Alex Ross is supplying the covers and the concept, while Mike Carey (X-Men Legacy, Ultimate Fantastic Four) is writing the new Torch mini-series, which Marvel claims will restore the original Torch to a place of prominence in the Marvel Universe.

The Original Human Torch was one of a triumvirate of popular heroes at Timely Comics that also included Namor the Sub-Mariner and Captain America. The original Torch, who is unrelated to the Johnny Storm character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for the Fantastic Four, was actually an android fashioned by the scientist Phineas T. Horton. When first exposed to oxygen at his press conference/unveiling, the Torch burst into flame, rebelled against his creator and became something of a science fiction monster before learning to control his power to surround himself with flames and vowing to use it for the benefit of humanity.

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Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet Comic Book Coming To Life

Five years ago Kevin Smith was hired to write and direct a big screen adaptation of The Green Hornet. Smith dropped out after getting cold feet, fearing he wouldn’t be able to handle an action -heavy big budget comic book film. As many of you know, the film since passed on to Seth Rogen who is co-writing and will star as the title character in a Michel Gondry-directed adaptation. But it looks like Smith will be revisiting his Green Hornet story…

….to be released in comic book form. Smith tells EW that he was asked to write an arc on the comic book series but had to decline due to other commitments (which I’ll get to in a minute).

“But then I thought ‘I already wrote a Hornet story once…’ It’s the Hornet movie I’d make if I was making it today. And there’s no better time to do that than before Seth Rogen and Michel Gondry’s version defines the character for the mainstream. We haven’t picked an interior artist yet, but we’ve got some stellar cover talent on board already: Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Jae Lee, and David Finch.”

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Is Captain America Coming Back From The Dead?

Is Captain America coming back from the dead?

Circumstantial evidence seems to point that direction. Marvel’s solicitation release for the upcoming “Reborn” mini-series in July lists “solicit to be revealed soon” coupled with the teaser pictured with this article have many assuming that Captain America’s coming back. Add in a lack of description for “Captain America #601″ and you’ve got a lot of evidence pointing to Cap’s return.

The new mini-series is a collaboration of Ed Brubaker and Bryan Hitch with covers from John Cassaday and Alex Ross.

Captain America was famously killed off in 2007 during the Marvel Comic’s Civil War storyline. The character has remained deceased since that time with the exception of flashbacks and an appearance by his ghost.

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