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------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Everything you need is one click away. Make Yahoo! your home page now. http://us.click.yahoo.com/AHchtC/4FxNAA/yQLSAA/bGIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> +++++ NAVARRE'S BCI LANDS DEAL WITH HEARST ENTERTAINMENT FOR DISTRIBUTION OF CLASSIC TELEVISION SERIES "THE LEGEND OF PRINCE VALIANT" First Official Release Under BCI's "Ink and Paint" Brand; Volume One, Five DVD Set Available July 4th for $29.98 "...lush animation, great voices, soulful music...make this one a hit!" -Amazing Heroes Magazine, Oct. '91 "...an appealing mix of dramatic entertainment and accessible animation." -Animation Magazine, Dec. '91 Los Angeles, CA - One of the animation world's oldest, most classic characters is heading to DVD for the first time as BCI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, in its initial venture with Hearst Entertainment, will release "The Legend of Prince Valiant-The Complete Series, Volume One" on July 4th, at a suggested retail price of $29.98. This 33 episode, five-DVD set is the first of two volumes (a total of 65 episodes) to be released under BCI's newly-created Ink and Paint Brand which will focus on licensed animated content, and is the first in a full line of titles licensed from the Hearst catalog. The announcement was made today by Jeff Hayne, Director of Acquisitions, BCI. "The Hearst animation library goes back to the early part of the 20th Century, and we're proud to be releasing this series on DVD for the first time in the United States," said Hayne. "Prince Valiant is one of the most recognized names in the animation world, and the popularity of the character and classic nature of this series make it ideal to be the first entry from our Ink and Paint Brand." "The Legend of Prince Valiant" is based on the popular comic strip character created 69 years ago by Hal Foster, and continues to be a popular, weekly newspaper comic strip read by over 44 million people. The Prince Valiant character reached the big screen in 1954, starring Robert Wagner in the title role. The television series aired on the Family Channel, 1991-1993, and featured the voices of Robby Benson (Beauty and the Beast), Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show), Alan Oppenheimer (He-Man), James Avery (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (Babylon 5). Volume One will include the first 33 episodes of the television series, and will also include special features produced by Andy Mangels, including: Interviews with the creators and comic strip historians Two episode-commentaries with creator/producer David J. Corbett, writer Brooks Wachtel, voice artist Noelle North and moderator Andy Mangels. Storyboard gallery (episode #32-"The Flute"), featuring a slideshow of approximately 170 images, set to music from the original soundtrack User-navigated slideshow of character paintings and background drawings with musical soundtrack accompaniment DVD-ROM Feature: Five complete episode scripts The Legend of Prince Valiant begins with the quest for Camelot, amidst a gallery of brave knights, shadowy practitioners of evil, high honor, deep magic, and a thrilling and treacherous journey from boyhood to manhood. In a time when people still believed in wizards, Prince Valiant fulfills his dream of becoming a Knight of the Round Table, as he has his friends uphold the ideals of Camelot. "The Legend of Prince Valiant" won the 1993 Humanitas Award in the category of Children's Animation (awarded by The Human Family Institute in recognition of television shows that explore human values and enrich audiences), and a Silver Angel at the 16th Annual Angel Awards (recognizing productions that uphold the highest moral, ethical or social impact for families and children of all ages). About Navarre Corporation Navarre Corporation is a publisher and distributor of a broad range of home entertainment and multimedia products, including PC software, CD audio, DVD video, VHS video, video games and accessories. Since its founding in 1983, the company has established distribution relationships with customers across a wide spectrum of retail channels which includes mass merchants, discount, wholesale clubs, office and music superstores, military and e-tailers nationwide. The company currently provides its products to over 18,000 retail and distribution center locations throughout the United States and Canada. Navarre has recently expanded its business to include the licensing and publishing of home entertainment and multimedia content, primarily through the acquisitions of Encore Software, Inc., BCI Eclipse Company, LLC, FUNimation Productions, Ltd. and The FUNimation Store, Ltd. For more information please visit the company's web site at http://www.navarre.com. About BCI BCI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is an independent entertainment video and audio supplier. BCI has continually redefined the standards and concepts of this industry, often introducing national success categories through its intuitive mass marketing skills. Its vast collection of titles represents both exclusively licensed titles from around the world, as well as in-house produced CDs and DVDs. About Hearst Entertainment Hearst Entertainment has an extensive award-winning movie library, representing the work of more than 75 top independent producers in more than 250 films. In addition, Hearst has a variety of reality and lifestyle series and specials and an animation catalog of over 600 half hours of programming including such classic characters as Popeye, Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant, Betty Boop and Blondie. Hearst Entertainment Productions has become one of the leading producers of documentary and reality programming producing over 100 hours of award-winning and highly rated shows each year. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Actuality Productions, HEP has structured a creative unit that produces top-flight entertainment in a number of genres. Among the new projects on the company's slate are "The Big Build," and "Sahara," for The History Channel, "The Newspaper" for Bravo, "Garden Police" for Discovery Home and "Anatomy of a Natural Disaster" for The National Geographic Channel. Returning shows include The History Channel's "Modern Marvels," one of the networks highest rated series and "Engineering Disasters." For more information, please visit http://www.hearstcorp.com/. +++++ Power Pacts By EMILY BRYSON YORK - 4/24/2006 Los Angeles Business Journal Staff In 1938, after being unable to sell their Superman story for newspaper syndication, Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster sold their first Superman story for $10 per page, and all rights to their character to DC Comics for $130. In 2004, Frank Miller received a seven-figure upfront payment to bring "Sin City" to the big screen from Dimension Films, as well as a share of profits from the film. He wrote the screenplay and co-directed the movie, which took in more than $160 million in worldwide box office and was a DVD hit. Then he signed to do two more installments of the series for Dimension. He's conservatively estimated to have made more than $10 million for the package. The anti-heroes at the center of today's graphics novels like "Hellboy" and "Sin City" are far more complex and nuanced than classic characters like Superman and Batman. The same could be said of deals for the rights signed by their creators. And the deals are far more lucrative for the creators, as well. The deal cut by Miller, a comic book icon, was an exception. But savvy modern comics writers, enlightened in part by the financial struggles of their predecessors, have cut broad and creative rights deals covering not only film and TV, but video games and DVDs, as well as emerging platforms like wireless and broadband. In addition, they're going through independent publishers, rather than working with the majors. Siegel and Shuster, who worked in the Great Depression, never thought about television rights, much less iPod broadcasts. "When Siegel and Shuster created Superman, they didn't think it was going to become an icon and part of the nation's mythology," said comic book creator Marc Andreyko, 35. "It's like saying John Wayne didn't know his movies would be out on DVDs. The opportunities created by technology and how small the world has become and the output for entertainment are so much more vast than they were 60 years ago, even 20 years ago." While the creators never cashed in, the Man of Steel nonetheless changed the contract landscape for comics creators. "It really wasn't until the first 'Superman' movie (in 1978) that people started looking at comic books in a whole other way," said Steven M. Weinberg, a partner at Greenberg Traurig LLP, who has represented Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee. "'Superman' was a blockbuster (the three films grossed more than $300 million for Warner Bros.). I don't think that had been seen before." Hollywood achieved more comic-based film successes, including Superman's DC Comics stable mate, Batman. Warner Bros., like DC under the Time Warner Inc. corporate umbrella, reaped $700 million on three films based on the Caped Crusader. However, it was the incredible box office grosses realized by Sony, when it produced two films featuring Marvel's Spider-Man, which kicked the comics-to-film biz into high gear. The first "Spider-Man" recorded the biggest box office opening in history, with $114 million in three days in 2002. Overall, Sony reaped more than $1.6 billion on that film and its sequel, and millions more in ancillary receipts. Platforms proliferate Along with the box office numbers - comics-based films have brought in $14 billion since 1978 - the proliferation of media platforms has also upped the ante for comic book creators. "I think what's really happened over the last 20 years is, especially with the explosion of cable TV and the Internet, that animation has risen to new heights as has the popularity of various characters," Weinberg said. All of which provides potential for revenue streams, for the owner of the characters. "Rights are very important," Andreyko understated. He and his partner, Brian Michael Bendis, have a film project based on one of their comics ("Torso") in development at Paramount Pictures Corp. "If I have an idea that I think is a viable commercial idea, I instantly think if it has life elsewhere. Do I want to pitch it to a major publisher or keep it for myself and have more control?" While the size of the potential payout has increased tremendously, the emergence of the alternative distribution platforms hasn't shortened the odds of a comic book creator reaping a rights bonanza by much. "They say if you catch the right lightning in a bottle, you can become exceedingly wealthy," said Andreyko, citing peers Mike Mignola ("Hellboy") and Todd MacFarlane ("Spawn"). "It's about as common as becoming a big movie star. It's very rare - but it happens often enough that it's not completely out of reach." Characters count It was natural that publishing and film production companies that catered specifically to writers from the comic book and graphic novel genres would emerge. Among the first was Dark Horse Entertainment, headed by Mike Richardson. Since 1992, Dark Horse has brought eight films to the big screen, including "The Mask" and "Sin City," accounting for more than $750 million at the worldwide box office. Richardson draws a simple distinction between companies like his and the major publishers and movie studios. "It's characters they count on to keep their companies profitable," Richardson said. "We rely on our writers." The message is getting through: An estimated 75 percent of today's writers are published or head to the big screen via independent firms and retain at least some of the rights to their heroes and heroines. Dark Horse has pacts with Miller, Mignola and MacFarlane as well as Andreyko and Bendis, whose creation "Jinx" will star Charlize Theron and reach the big screen under the Universal Corp. banner next year. Those writers will not only receive larger shares of the royalties than their predecessors (some of whom received little or no percentage of the box office) but also more say in the development of the projects. Miller, for instance, is writing and co-directing all three "Sin City" movies. "Dark Horse is really good about giving you what you want as far as creative control and things like that," said writer Eric Powell, 31. He took out a loan to self-publish a character called "The Goon," which was a hit online and was later picked up by Dark Horse. There's been interest, but no deal yet for "The Goon," but that's OK with Powell. "I wanted to be at a company that would respect what I was doing and not just throw it out there," Powell said. Beverly Hills-based Platinum Studios LLC is another independent publisher. The firm has an extensive library that increased greatly in the early 1980s, when the average age of a comic book reader began to shift from 12 years old to the 26 years of age it is today. Platinum Chairman Scott Mitchell Rosenberg said his company basically caught a wave when he opened his company in 1986. "We were willing to take some chances." The first comic the company published was the story behind "Men in Black," which Rosenberg said the majors had passed on, since the creator was a first-time publisher. Sony released two "Men in Black" films, which together grossed $440 million in the U.S. Platinum works frequently with emerging comic book artists. The company has an editorial department that works with writers on their books, making suggestions and exchanging drafts back and forth. Rosenberg said this enables the company to focus on first- time writers who usually can't get published anywhere else. In addition, the writers get a 20 percent take on the book sales and will have some rights if the creation is sold to a movie, although terms vary by the contract. Platinum is less concerned with making money on a comic book than striking movie deals. "It's a small margin in terms of printing," Rosenberg said. "But we look at the other markets: developing characters to take them online, toys, video games, direct-to-DVD, TV series. We don't care how the comic sells, but how the story goes and how the characters interact. Then we can figure out these other ways to go." Platinum's comic book projects headed to the big and small screen are: Showtime maxi-series "Jeremiah" with Luke Perry and Malcolm- Jamal Warner, the NBC pilot "Meet the Haunteds" and two features slated for 2007, "The Darkness" and "Magdalena." Creator Kevin Taft will write the screenplay on both films. Old school The major comic book companies, DC and Marvel, remain the 900- pound gorillas in the field. DC owns Superman and Batman while Marvel controls the rights to Spider-Man and the X-Men. All of those characters have been at the center of film franchises that have produced more than $500 million in worldwide receipts. Today the majors pay contract writers about $250 per page, and some royalties - but they control the rights to the characters. Some writers are realizing the best of both worlds, keeping the rights to some of their characters but while doing some project work for the majors. Such an arrangement has creative as well as financial advantages because it allows writers to work with the major publishers' established characters. Andreyko, for example, created a character for DC and gladly signed away the rights, because it allowed his character to "play in the DC universe sand box" and interact with heroes and heroines like Superman and Wonder Woman. There are creative limits, Andreyko said. "It's like writing an episode of 'Friends.' You can't turn Ross into a serial killer" Despite the opportunities created by today's production companies and creative contracts, achieving major Hollywood success remains a long shot for a comic book creator. "It's like those documentaries of the Galapagos Islands, when they say '3,000 sea turtles are born ... two will grow to adulthood,'" Andreyko said. "If I ever have my own production company I want to name it Baby Sea Turtle Productions because the odds are like that." Even with his picture in development at Paramount, Andreyko isn't counting his sea turtles until they're hatched. "There can always be a shark in the water or a hurricane. Until I'm at the theater watching it, it could fall apart. But this is as close and as exciting as it's been." +++++ Alias founder, Mike S. Miller signs at Comickaze on FCBD Free Alias comics, sketches, original art and more coming to San Diego this Saturday! May 1, 2006 (San Diego, CA) - Fans of Mike S. Miller and/or Alias Comics who live in the San Diego vicinity have a rare opportunity to meet the creator and get a free Alias comic book signed by the Co-Founder of Alias himself! A veteran Comic book industry creator, Mike's work has graced the pages of books ranging from X-Men to Superman, from Wolverine to JLA. In the last two years, he has been building independent publisher Alias Comics with his partner, Brett Burner (who may also make an appearance at the Saturday FCBD event), and where is the best place in San Diego to hold such an event? Comickaze, of course! Comickaze is San Diego's premier independent comic retailer, centrally located in Clairmont Mesa, Comickaze is within a half- hour driving distance from just about anywhere in San Diego county. If you're a fan of Alias, a fan of Mike's, or just a fan of great selection, get down to Comickaze on Saturday between 11am and 6pm, and you won't be disappointed! For artwork by Mike S. Miller, visit his website at http://w ww.firebrandfantasyart.com. For more information on Alias comics, visit Alias Comics online at http://www.aliasc omics.net For more information on Comickaze, visit http://www.comik caze.com. Comickaze is located at 5525 Clairmont Mesa Blvd in San Diego, CA. +++++ From: "Wiebke Hess" <wiebke@step-3.com> Subject: [NEW TRAILER] X-Men: The Official Game -- Nightcrawler Date: Mon, 1 May 2006 09:29:25 -0700 Happy Monday! We have a new X-Men: The Official Game Nightcrawler trailer for you today at the FTP below. Open the "X-Men: The Official Game" folder, then trailers a Nightcrawler Character Trailer. X-Men: The Official Game ships to retail stores on May 16th for PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox 360, Xbox, Nintendo DS, GameCube and Game Boy Advance. Let me know if you have any questions! -W Using an FTP client: Location: transfer.activision.com Login: step3public Password: wilfee3 Using a Web browser: ftp://step3public:wilfee3@transfer.activision.com/ +++++ Destroyer, Created by Wayne Sanders, Hot on the Heels of Grafenveer Birmingham, AL, May 7th, 2006 - Birmingham writer Wayne Sanders is happy to announce his second comic book series coming out from his publisher, Open Book Press, and it's hot on the heels of the launch of his first comic series. May 1st 2006 saw the new re-launch of SMASH! Comics by Open Book Press. A big part of the launch was the second issue of Grafenveer, Wayne's first series. The first issue of Grafenveer was released as a graphic novel. Now the SMASH! Comics line is launching another new series called Destroyer, also created by Wayne Sanders, and shipping to stores in June. As if that isn't enough the publisher has stated that they will be launching yet another new comic series created and written by Wayne Sanders this year, and that they are considering several others. "It's safe to say that Mr. Sanders will soon be known as one of the hardest working writers in the biz." said Open Book Press Production Manager Mike Gagnon. The series is about a young man named Gabriel. For a long time Gabriel has been troubled by nightmares; nightmares that seem to affect the waking world around him. Often these dreams star a strange, taloned being that murders wantonly. When Gabriel takes his niece Lyla to a football game he and the entire crowd are stunned when an enormous asteroid blazes its way through the sky, narrowly missing Earth, and narrowly avoiding the destruction of our entire planet. Somehow this event unlocks something in Gabriel's mind and unleashes the full potential of his power. Gabriel finds himself running from mysterious agents after witnessing a crime and is more than troubled when his dreams of the creature savagely murdering the agents prove to be true. The first issue of "Destroyer" (ISBN: 1-897290-07-1) ships in June and continues on a quarterly schedule for a total of four issues. For more info on the sci-fi horror "Destroyer", or Wayne's medieval fantasy "Grafenveer" check the publisher website at www.openbookpress.com +++++ FANS GET CHANCE TO STAR IN COMIC BOOK Appear in Zoom Suit #3 with All Proceeds Helping Animals in Need May 1, 2006, Palm Beach, FL - Comic fans have lees than 24 hours to carve their name into comic book history. In return for a $100 donation that will be sent to the Florida Humane Society, five fans will become background characters in Zoom Suit #3. The last names of five fans will be spoken by a play-by-play announcer at a football game in the script. Originally the players were named after the artists on the project - Layton, Tucci, Sears, Starlin and Patton. However, Team Zoom thought it would be a fun idea to give fans the chance to be immortalized in the comic as well as help animals in need. "I'm always looking for a way to support no kill animal shelters," said Zoom Suit creator John Taddeo. "It's a fun opportunity as well as a great cause. Please check out the auction." The five fans that make the $100 donation will also receive a complete set of Zoom Suit #2 comics including cover "A" by Bart Sears, cover "B" by Keron Grant and both retailer incentive covers. The Armored Legend Edition features a cover by Bob Layton, while the Suspended Animation Edition features artwork directly from the animated short film. All four covers feature the latest breakthroughs in "Glow in the Dark" printing technology. One hundred percent of the proceeds will benefit animal charities. Taddeo is personally paying the eBay auction fees, PayPal fees, supplying the comics and paying for the shipping. "Considering the prices we've seen on eBay for the first set of Armored Legends books, I think we should be able to raise the $500 for the shelter," said Taddeo. "Watching the #1 retailer incentive issues sell between $50 and $300 a set is just amazing. After seeing that, I came up with the idea of using some of our copies to help the shelters." To find the auction visit: http://cgi.ebay.com/Star-in-Zoom-Suit- 3-Your-Last-Name-in-Comic- Charity_W0QQitemZ6624356776QQcategoryZ972QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem About Zoom Suit: Zoom Suit #1 shipped April 26, 2006. The comic is based upon the award-winning animated short film of the same name. To date, Zoom Suit has appeared in over 78 Film Festivals. To see the short film or learn more, please visit www.superverse.com +++++ Archie Comics artist Dan Parent will be signing copies of Archie's 65th Anniversary Bash, a special comic created exclusively for Free Comic Book Day. On May 6, 2006, the fifth annual Free Comic Book Day event will be held in comic shops across the country. This year, the fabled town of Riverdale will be getting quite a jolt, as a lucrative job offer for Archie's dad requires the freckle-faced teen to move to another state! In "Moving Forward," Archie reflects back on his "Little Archie" days, and sets off to tell his friends that he'll soon be moving. Along the way, he reminisces with Sabrina, Josie, "That Wilkin Boy," and more. He even runs into recent acquaintances, Katy Keene (fresh from last year's "Free Comic Book Day" appearance) and real-life singing sensations, The Veronicas! Breaking the news to his inner circle of friends - Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Reggie - is toughest of all, but the gang relieve the sting by throwing Archie a mega going-away part at Pop's. Can Archie really be leaving Riverdale on the eve of Archie Comics' 65th anniversary? It's a story full of nostalgia, warmth, heart, humor, and of course, a plethora of characters that have made the Archie line of comics one of the most popular for 65 years! Meet Dan Parent in person and have him sign your copy of Archie's 65th Anniversary Bash On Free Comic Book Day, May 6, Dan will be at MAIN STREET COMICS 157 Dolson Avenue Middletown, NY 10940 from 12:00 to 4:00 If you miss Dan in New York hold on to your copies of Archie's 65th Anniversary Bash and get them signed at AMERICA'S MOST WANTED COLLECTIBLES 907 Arch Street Williamsport, PA 43420 On May 20th from 11:00 to 5:00 or MCRAE'S L'IL COMIC SHOP 505 Pennsylvania Avenue, Matamoras, PA 18336 On June 10th from 1:00 to 4:00 For more about Archie and his friends go to www.archiecomic.com +++++ Big Head Press Launches New Web-comics Site The all-new BigHeadPress.Com (http://www.bigheadpress.com) web- comics site has now launched. As announced earlier, the indie publisher of graphic novels is presenting three all-new longform stories: The Hook (Mike Baron and Gabe Eltaeb), The Architect (Mike Baron and Andie Tong), and Roswell, Texas (L. Neil Smith and Scott Bieser.) The new site also offers a discussion forum, links to blogs by some of the creators, and of course a "company store" where readers can order gifts printed with logos and art from the three stories. +++++ Thanks for subscribing to the Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine (CBEM) --------------------------->Disclaimer<--------------------------- This is an ANNOUNCE only mailing list, only the Editor can send messages to the list. No one else has access to the subscriber list. Replies to these messages will be received by the Editor ONLY, so you must CC: individual contributors if you want them to get your E-Mail. The E-mail to the E-mag MAY be used in future issues at the Editor's discretion UNLESS you specifically request that they not be. It is our policy to withhold names and/or Addresses, by request only, from letters of comment. All contributors are required to use their real name and have a valid Email address for their columns to be published. Send Email comments to: ComicBkNet@aol.com Material for inclusion in the Emag - press releases, solicitations, column submissions, Letters to the Editor, guesses for the trivia contest should be sent to ComicBkNet@aol.com The EDITOR, not the submitter, has final approval and edit rights on ALL material. Printed comic books and advanced copies for review in the Emag should be sent via US Mail or UPS to David L. LeBlanc 84 Heather Circle Jefferson, MA 01522-1419 TO Subscribe send a message FROM the intended address to: ComicBookNetworkEmag-subscribe@yahoogroups.com TO Unsubscribe send a message FROM the address to be dropped to: ComicBookNetworkEmag-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com You may also unsubscribe from the Egroups Web page at the short cut below. Shortcut URL to the Egroup page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ComicBookNetworkEmag All contents COPYRIGHT 2006 The Comic Book Network. 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