Zits Motion Comics

Zits Motion Comics will be featured on Comics Kingdom, King Features’ online comic distribution platform for local newspapers. The roughly 30 second episodes will be displayed on the sites of the participating newspapers, and on YouTube. Each will feature voice talent, music, and the characters’ movement in and out of the panels. Zits is one of the most popular daily strips in history, and runs in over 1600 newspapers worldwide.

King Features has also expanded the newspapers participating in Comics Kingdom, adding New York Daily News, Denver Post, San Antonio Express-News, Toronto Star, Las Vegas Review Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, Spokesman Review, Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Tulsa World.

The Comics Kingdom site is being updated, with enhanced landing page, promotions, and a favorites feature that allows visitors to view their selected comics four at a time.

Five Viz Anime on FUNimation Channel

Five Viz anime series will launch on the FUNimation Channel in the next few months, marking a significant expansion of Viz’ presence on the channel. The series are Buso Renkin, Hunter X Hunter, Monster, Honey and Clover and Nana.

The series are slated to launch in the “late spring and summer” months.

Transformers and G I Joe DVD Sets Coming

Shout! Factory will release the Transformers and GI Joe TV series from the 80s on DVD, along with the My Little Pony direct-to-video features, according to Hollywood Reporter. Shout Factory plans to release improved versions of the episodes that were previously released on DVD by Rhino, and to complete the GI Joe run, which was only partially completed by Rhino.

The first Shout Factory release will be a three disc set of The Transformers: The Complete First Season—25th Anniversary Edition, which will street June 16th (leading into the theatrical release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on the 24th). The episodes will have remastered video and a new stereo soundtrack created from the original audio. Extras will include a printable script, rare PSAs, toy commercials, concept art, a limited edition Autobot magnet, and the featurette “Triplechanger: From Toy to Comic to Screen: The Origins of the Transformers.”

Complete series sets of both Transformers and GI Joe are planned for later in the summer.

After 33 years, Starlog magazine has ceased publication, according to an announcement on its Website. Issue #374 will be the final issue. “It is also at this time that we announce the temporary cessation of the current run of Starlog as a print magazine,” the announcement said. “After 33 years, and considering the present state of the economy, we feel it’s time for a major revamp and will be temporarily discontinuing publication while the model and redesign of the magazine are contemplated and executed.”

The Starlog Website will continue, and Fangoria will continue to be published. The company has also announced that it will soon begin offering digital editions of the entire run of Starlog magazine. It has been unable to offer back issues since a Kable News warehouse fire in 2007 destroyed its entire inventory of back issues.

Starlog was founded in August 1976 by Kerry O’Quinn and Norm Jacobs, who ran the magazine for decades (along with EVP Rita Eisenstein). Starlog, Fangoria, and other assets were acquired by Creative Group in 2005. Creative Group filed bankruptcy last year, and Starlog and Fangoria ended up in the hands of The Brooklyn Company, run by longtime Fangoria President Thomas DeFeo.

Recognizing that its fortune was tied to finding the hardcore fans that wanted its content, Starlog was one of the first publishers to sell to the then nascent comic store distribution network in the 70s, and supported its growth through the late 70s and the following decades.

Green Lantern: First Flight Coming to DVD in June 2009

From Warner Homer Video, Inc.! In the illuminated hero’s first-ever full-length animated film, Green Lantern: First Flight finds Hal Jordan recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps and placed under the supervision of respected senior Lantern Sinestro. The earthling soon discovers his mentor is actually the central figure in a secret conspiracy that threatens the philosophies, traditions, and hierarchy of the entire Green Lantern Corps.

Hal must quickly hone his newfound powers and combat the treasonous Lanterns within the ranks to maintain order in the universe! Produced by Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series), directed by Lauren Montgomery (Superman: Doomsday, Wonder Woman), and written by Alan Burnett (The Batman), Green Lantern: First Flight Features the voice-acting talents of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Christopher Meloni as Hal Jordan and Alias' Victor Garber as Sinestro.

G. I. Joe Footage Wows ShoWest

ShoWest, Hollywood’s chance to impress theater owners with its summer wares, came to an impressive conclusion as Paramount showed off footage from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which debuts on August 7th. Sienna Miller, who plays The Baroness, introduced the footage, a pulse-pounding action sequence involving the destruction of the Eiffel Tower.

Though some of the footage was included in a previously released teaser trailer and in the Super Bowl spot, the sequence shown at ShoWest appeared to be complete and had the experienced audience riveted to the screen. USA Today put G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra first in a list of films that got positive buzz from their ShoWest presentations, noting that exhibitors were comparing the Eiffel Tower sequence to the destruction of the White House in Independence Day, which became a major hit in the summer of 1996.

G.I. Joe is the anchor of Tinseltown’s late summer offerings, and its performance could have major effect on what sort of blockbusters that Hollywood studios will be producing for 2010 and the years ahead. While the Transformers is now a proven performer at the box office, G.I. Joe has yet to prove its mettle as a big screen property. The success of the Eiffel Tower sequence at ShoWest is an indication that this property might be up to the task, something that could have a big influence on sales of related toys and comics.

Wolverine Invades 7-Elevens

C-Store chain 7-Eleven has announced a major store-wide promotion in conjunction with the May 1st release of Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The wide-ranging promotion, which debuts in April, has been designed by the FreshWorks agency, the same unit responsible for turning 7-Elevens into Kwikee Marts for the premiere of Fox’s The Simpsons Movie. In addition to lots of in-store signage, the promotion includes lenticular superhero Slurpee cubs featuring the images of Sabretooth, Wolverine and Gambit, a new Slurpee flavor, “Mutant Berry,” four Collectible Slurpee Straws ($1.69 each), a special silver Big Gulp cup, and a refillable stainless steel Wolverine Coffee Mug.

The Collectible Slurpee Straws come with a removable figure and a base on which to display it, while the refillable Wolverine Coffee Mug features Wolverine’s trademark triple claw slash mark. The 7-Eleven stores are also promoting the X-Men Origins: Wolverine video game, which debuts on May 1st, the same day the movie opens. 7-Eleven customers can pre-book either Xbox 360 or PS3 versions of the game with just a $5 deposit.

IFC Preps "Anita Blake" Movie

,According to The Hollywood Reporter, cable network IFC in conjunction with Lionsgate is producing a feature length movie based on Laurell K. Hamilton’s series of Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels and plans to broadcast the film in 2010. Glenn Morgan (The X-Files) is writing the screenplay for the first Anita Blake movie.

Given the success of True Blood on HBO, the development of similar programming based on Hamilton’s 16 Anita Blake novels (#17 is due out in June) seems like a no-brainer, and cable, rather than network TV, would appear to be the right small screen destination for this sexy sleuth of the supernatural. According to THR IFC and Lionsgate are hoping that this will be the first in a series of Anita Blake movies.

Marvel Comics has adapted the first two Anita Blake novels, Guilty Pleasures and The Laughing Corpse, into the comic book/graphic novel format (the first graphic novel collection of The Laughing Corpse is due out in late May), so any further exposure of character should only help increase sales of Anita Blake novels and comics in both the direct and bookstore markets.