IDW Publishing announced that it will expand its hit comic series Angel: After the Fall with special interim issues, a new spinoff miniseries and new artists. The series, which picks up the story of the TV series Angel from the end of the fifth season, has sold out several first printings of its five issues so far. Issues six, seven and eight will begin a special three-part stories-within-the-story adventure, "First Night," IDW said.

Issue six looks at Spike (featuring art by David Messina), Connor (art by Stephen Mooney) and Lorne (art by industry legend John Byrne). All the stories in the issues will feature a framing sequence starring Betta George (the breakout star of the Spike: Asylum miniseries), illustrated by Tim Kane.

Spike will get his own miniseries in July, Spike: After the Fall, written and illustrated by Brian Lynch and Franco Urru. The four-part series begins in July and picks up Spike from the end of "First Night" and explores his changing relationship with Illyria.

"Putting Looney in the Toons" will return to the big screen some of the short cartoons Avery and Maltese worked on together as well as selected highlights from their prolific individual careers in animated theatrical films. The screenings will be complemented by audio presentations of rare recorded interviews with both Avery and Maltese discussing their careers with film historian Joe Adamson. In addition, the evening will feature a panel discussion with Brenda Maltese Moulthrop, daughter of Michael Maltese, and several of Avery and Maltese's collaborators, including Martha Sigall, Jerry Eisenberg and Don Jurwich.

Avery and Maltese, both born in 1908, crossed professional paths at the Warner Bros. animation studio back when it was Leon Schlesinger Productions. Avery began his career at Walter Lantz's Universal cartoon studio, working on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. In 1935 he moved to Warner Bros., where he would create Daffy Duck and crystallize the personality of Bugs Bunny. From 1941 to 1954 Avery directed cartoons for MGM, introducing audiences to Screwy Squirrel, Droopy Dog and a whole new style of animated humor. In 1954 he initiated his final theatrical cartoons for Walter Lantz, including several Chilly Willy classics. Maltese began at Warner Bros. in 1937 and actually appeared on camera as a studio guard in "You Ought to Be in Pictures," a 1940 Porky Pig short. After working with Avery and many other Warner Bros. directors, Maltese would go on to collaborate primarily with Chuck Jones, writing and storyboarding some of the most memorable Warner Bros. cartoons ever made, including "What's Opera Doc?," "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century" and "One Froggy Evening."

George Miller, the Academy Award-owning Aussie auteur behind such diverse flicks as the Mad Max trilogy, Babe: Pig in the City and last year's Best Animated Feature Oscar winner Happy Feet, has signed on to helm Warner Bros.' live-action version of DC Comics' Justice League of America. The 62-year-old Miller has been given the go-ahead to begin shooting the movie in his native Australia for a targeted 2009 release, according to Variety.

Featuring a screenplay by Kieran and Michele Mulroney (the brother and sister-in-law of Dermot Mulroney), Justice League has been shrouded in secrecy, but is expected to feature five superheroes from the original comic: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Flash

*****

Per Variety, Warners is taking heat from Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan. The filmmaker is petitioning the studio to postpone JLA until after he's finished with the Caped Crusader projects he has in development, including The Dark Knight, which is wrapping production in Chicago for release July 18, 2008. The director fears that a separate (and possibly campier) film featuring Batman could hurt Nolan's successful reboot of the DC franchise. His star, Christian Bale, has expressed similar sentiments and won't reprise the hero for Justice League.

Then there's the Man of Steel. Industry scuttlebutt suggested Warners would complete its planned sequel to 2006's Superman Returns. But the follow-up is on hold until director Bryan Singer completes work on his World War II drama, Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise. Like Bale, Supes alter ego Brandon Routh is not attached to JLA.

[Jonathan] Lethem joins a growing list of novelists such as Stephen King and Michael Chabon, who have shifted to work on comic books as the medium gains critical and academic respect and becomes more mainstream. Marvel contacted Lethem after his book "Fortress of Solitude," which had some comic-book reverence, and asked if he was interested in doing work in the medium, said Marvel publisher Dan Buckley. "We wanted to see what he was interested in, and he brought it up immediately," Buckley said. "Bringing this kind of talent to the room is fantastic. He knows how to tell a story, and his perspective is different from traditional comic writers."

*****

"It was an interesting challenge," Lethem said. "One of the things I concluded very quickly was that it's not a written form. My primary task was to provide amazing things for artists to draw."

*****

Bestselling writer of "Nineteen Minutes," Jodi Picoult is the current author of the legendary Wonder Woman series at DC. She is only the second woman to ever write the series in its more than 60-year-old history. The biggest challenge for Picoult was tethering the character's lengthy past with contemporary issues and her own writing style. "You don't want to go down in history as the one who ruined Wonder Woman," she said. "She comes with a history, and a very loyal fan base that doesn't want to see you mess around."

Other authors turned their creations into comic-book heroes. Chabon, who wrote about cartoonists in his Pulitzer-prize winning novel "The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay," chose to turn the novel's cartoon "The Escapist" into a real graphic novel for Dark Horse Comics. His editor, Diana Schutz, helped him modify his thinking from chapters and sentences to panels. Schutz, a longtime editor, also works with authors Glen David Gold and Chris Offutt. She said there are tremendous differences in the mediums, and writers often aren't used to thinking about the presentation of a story or the physical representation of their characters. But it can be taught.

"A good writer is a good writer," she said. "It really is just a matter of coming to grips with the different form, the different structure of the medium. Some novelists don't make a successful transition into writing screenplays, that doesn't mean they're not good. It means they can't think pictures very well. And comics are basically still movies."

....Marvel Studios is putting the pieces together for a musical on the Great White Way starring the popular superhero, which will be directed by Tony winner Julie Taymor, with U2's Bono and the Edge creating new music and lyrics for the project. Auditions are taking place, and a reading is scheduled for the summer. No dates for a Broadway opening have been set.

Producing are Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment. In addition to co-producing the show, Hello Entertainment is arranging all financing for the project.

While the Spider-Man musical marks the first time a Marvel character has been the subject of a Broadway show, it's not the first time a superhero has hit the stage. Superman was in the spotlight of "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman," which opened at the Alvin Theatre in 1966. Despite fairly positive reviews, it closed a few months later.

Before becoming Marvel chairman, David Maisel spearheaded the 1999 best musical Tony winner "Fosse." Taymor won two Tonys for direction and costume design for the Broadway production of "The Lion King."

Ellenshaw began his association with Walt Disney in 1947, when he was tapped to work on the Studio's first live-action film, "Treasure Island" (1950), and continued working there until his retirement in 1979 following "The Black Hole."

Commenting on Ellenshaw's passing, Roy E. Disney said, "Peter was a Disney legend in every sense of the word and played a vital role in the creation of many of the Studio's greatest live-action films from the very beginning. He was a brilliant and innovative visual effects pioneer who was able to consistently please my Uncle Walt, and push the boundaries of the medium to fantastic new heights. From his incredibly beautiful and effective matte paintings for films like 'Mary Poppins,' 'Treasure Island,' and '20,000 Leagues...,' to his landmark painting of the iconic Disneyland map, he was a true master of his art. Outside of the Studio, he was a fantastic painter in his own right, and I always loved his Irish paintings and felt that he did the best seascapes in the world."

Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin added, "Long before the era of modern special effects, Peter was working his magic in Disney films. People never knew how he accomplished his visual feats. 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' remains one of the most amazing, eye-popping achievements in all of film history. And when you think that 'Mary Poppins' was made without anyone ever setting foot outside a soundstage -- let alone visiting London -- you get some idea of what he was able to pull off."

Craig Barron, president of Matte World Digital and co-author of the book The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Paintings, observed, "Ellenshaw's matte work was truly the stuff that movie magic dreams were made of. He took audiences on cinematic journeys to the most incredible places like Captain Nemo's volcanic island from '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,' or the fairy mountain cave of 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People,' or a tour of London's magical rooftops for 'Mary Poppins.' His matte painting work belongs to that unsung craft that's now virtually disappeared. With only a small crew, he created, almost single-handedly, incredible movie making locations with just the sublime artistry of brush strokes -- literally the 'art' in movies that generations of audiences have appreciated unawares, thanks to the skill of this great-departed movie artist."

Born in Great Britain in 1913, Ellenshaw began his film career in the early 1930s, when he apprenticed for visual effects pioneer W. Percy (Pop) Day, O.B.E. He worked on such productions as "Things to Come," "Rembrandt," "Elephant Boy," "Sixty Glorious Years," "A Matter of Life and Death," and the Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger classic "Black Narcissus."

After a stint as a pilot in the RAF during World War II, Ellenshaw created matte paintings for MGM's "Quo Vadis." In 1947, his work caught the attention of an art director for the Walt Disney Studios. Disney was in the pre- planning stages of his very first live-action film, "Treasure Island," which would be produced in Great Britain, and the art director inquired if Ellenshaw would be interested in the project. Thus began a professional collaboration and friendship with Walt Disney that would span over 30 years and 34 films.

Ellenshaw regarded Walt Disney as a source of inspiration, a wonderful executive, and over the years, a good friend. "Walt had the ability to communicate with artists," observed Ellenshaw. "He'd talk to you on your level -- artist to artist. He used to say, 'I can't draw, Peter.' But he had the soul of an artist, and he had a wonderful way of transferring his enthusiasm to you."

Among his many projects at Disney, Ellenshaw made major artistic contributions to the television shows "Davy Crockett" and "Zorro," and such classic feature films as "The Sword in the Rose," "The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men," "Darby O'Gill and the Little People," "Third Man on the Mountain," "Swiss Family Robinson," "The Love Bug," "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," and "The Black Hole." He officially retired from the Studio in 1979 but returned years later to paint several matte paintings for the 1990 film, "Dick Tracy." He was designated a "Disney Legend" in 1993.

In addition to his career in the motion picture industry, Ellenshaw became known as one of the finest marine artists of the past century known not only for his dramatic seascapes but his elegant Irish landscapes and vivid oils of the Himalayas and Monet's garden at Giverny.

Ellenshaw's beloved wife of 58 years, Bobbie, passed away in 2000. He is survived by his two children, Lynda Ellenshaw Thompson (an industry veteran visual effects producer), and Harrison Ellenshaw (a visual effects artist who was an Oscar nominee for "The Black Hole," matte supervisor on "Star Wars: Episodes IV and V" and visual effects supervisor for "Tron"), as well as his two grandchildren, Michael and Hilary. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Direct Relief International, Santa Barbara, California.

Tracy admirers have flocked to the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum in this quaint northern Illinois town this month to mark the 75th anniversary of the comic strip hero and remember his creator, Chester Gould.

Gould, who lived for about 50 years in Woodstock, launched the cartoon in October 1931 and drew the strip until 1977. He died in 1985, aged 81, but his creation lives on.

For the "funny pages," the Tracy strip was a departure from the usually upbeat fare. It offered often violent reflections of Prohibition-era lawlessness in a fictional city modeled on Chicago.

Big Boy, the strip's first villain, stood in for legendary gangster Al Capone. Later came memorable grotesques such as Flattop Jones, Pruneface -- and Mrs Pruneface -- and the Brow.

"The success of Dick Tracy is in the characters. Tracy holds up the tent, and the characters act as a three-ring circus down below," said Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Dick Locher, 77, who now draws and writes the strip for Tribune Media Services.

Amy Crump, director of the Marshall Public Library, said once the new policy is place the two books will be reconsidered for circulation under the new guidelines, "as if they were new." Fun Home and Blankets were challenged earlier this month by a Marshall patron who claimed the books were inappropriate because of explicit graphics.

Crump said this is the first time any book has been challenged by a library patron, "which is probably why we've never had a selection policy." She said the new policy,"is not aimed at just these two books," and once implemented, "we'll be able to make decisions about all kinds of books." The materials selection committee will include six of the eight members of the board and two or three library staffers experienced in collection development, said Crump. "The committee will consult with other libraries about their policies and with attorneys," she said. The process of developing the guidelines and gettting approval by the board will take a minimum of two months.

The Marshall library has approximately 75 graphic novels in its collection. All books, including graphic novels, are placed in adult, young adult or children's sections as appropriate. Fun Home, Bechdel's story of growing up a lesbian with a closeted gay father, was placed in the adult nonfiction section, said Crump, while Blankets, an autobiographical story about Thompson's Christian fundamentalist childhood, was originally in the young adult section.

"The Scramble Suit was a big challenge," said director Richard Linklater, who also adapted the story for the film. "There's a lengthy description of it [in the book], but it's also vague. It's a bit of a blur of multi-personalities. We spent months coming up with a design for it."

The outcome is a mask that generates an array of human faces of every age and race, which is worn by Reeves' character, Bob Arctor. Arctor is a secret agent trying to uncover a drug ring. The Scramble Suit is accomplished by using animation over live footage. Linklater used the technique for the entire movie, much as he did in his 2001 film Waking Life. "No one face ever shows up in total at one time," the director said of the Scramble Suit. Author Dick's likeness is one of the faces that pop through the hundreds of animated characters that make up the suit.

Producer Tommy Pallotta said that he had to keep a watchful eye on the animation team while they were drawing the many characters for the suit. "They drew people they knew—friends, and stuff like that—but they began adding different characters from other science fiction stories, nerdy stuff, and they would have jumped out too much if I let [it go] through," Pallotta said.

Batwoman - real name Kathy Kane - will appear in 52, a year-long DC Comics publication that began this month. In her latest incarnation, she is a rich socialite who has a romantic history with another 52 character, ex-police detective Renee Montoya. 52 will be published in the UK as a graphic novel by Titan Books in 2007. The series is set in a world in which established superheroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman no longer play a part.

The new-look Batwoman is just one of a wave of ethnically and sexually diverse characters entering the DC Comics universe. Others include Mexican teenager Blue Beetle - who replaces the character's previous white incarnation - and the Great Ten, a government-sponsored team of Chinese superheroes. Regular characters Firestorm and The Atom, meanwhile, have been reinvented as black and Asian heroes respectively. The characters are part of a wider effort to broaden the make-up of comic-book creations in line with society as a whole. Batwoman, who first appeared in July 1956, has not been seen since September 1979 when she was killed by the League of Assassins and the Bronze Tiger.

Anyone who reads comic books knows that death is not the end of the road, but simply a short break before your triumphant return to fighting evil. Loads of characters have been seemingly (or actually) killed off, only to return at a later date, much to the shock and awe of their unsuspecting comrades and enemies.

Superman fell at the hands of Doomsday, and Doomsday at the hands of Superman in 1993... each of whom returned several months later… where Doomsday died again. Doomsday returned and seemingly died around four times… the last of which Superman died again, but this time in the future where Doomsday (this time a highly intelligent hero) is given the chance to go back and save Superman… a chance he takes and Superman returns to life again.

*****

And the list goes on and on: Green Arrow, Jason Todd (Robin) and Charles Xavier have all been dead... and have all returned. It's not that surprising that comic creators can’t pull the trigger on their beloved characters once and for all. How could they leave their creation (aka: money maker) stiff in the ground? I just want to know why other characters are shocked when another character returns from the dead. It's a common occurrence that should be expected at this point.

I'm also curious as to whether or not the writers actually expect the audience to be surprised to see someone return from the dead. Killing a character off feels like a cheap marketing ploy at this point. Everyone runs out to grab the death issue, the following grieving issues, and the subsequent return to life issue.

*****

In the future I would like to see the dead stay in their homes. No more cheap death/resurrection thrills. It has become an insult to the reader's intelligence, and I for one am sick of it.

With the release last week of his debut, Marvel Comics' Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #1, Lindelof joins a growing fraternity of television and movie writers and directors — as well as best-selling authors — eagerly taking Spider-Man and his brethren for a spin. It's a welcome boost for the comic book industry, which is hoping these new authors' mainstream audiences will come along for the ride.

"It's been a life-long dream of mine to write a comic book and I'm sure it would've been much harder for me to do it the way I did it if not for 'Lost,'" says Lindelof. Among the Hollywood heavyweights living out their cartoon fantasies: "Clerks" director Kevin Smith, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon, "House Party" director Reginald Hudlin, "Superman Returns" director Bryan Singer, and "Carnivale" creator Daniel Knauf for Marvel; best-selling novelist Brad Meltzer, "Pi" director Darren Aronofsky — who just released a "director's cut" graphic novel of his latest movie — and "Oz" creator Tom Fontana for DC Comics.

*****

Lindelof, like Heinberg, lets his love of comics influence his television writing, littering his show with comic-book references. (On one episode of "Lost," castaway Hurley can be seen reading a comic book in a flashback sequence; the comic is Incredible Hulk #181, featuring the first appearance of Wolverine — both title characters of Lindelof's comic miniseries.) Industry insiders are banking that some of that fanboy love rubbed off on their viewers.

*****

Lindelof, however, says he writes his comic book scripts from 1 to 5 a.m. on Sundays — the only free time he has from "Lost" — to make sure he meets his deadlines.

Comic cartoonists have cooperated to do "theme days" on rare occasions. But this may be a first for editorial cartoonists, said J.P. Trostle, news editor of Editorial Cartoonists.com -- the Web site of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

The site will publish the Dec. 12 cartoons criticizing the job losses. The AAEC also hopes newspapers will publish the cartoons and syndicates will distribute them. Trostle told E&P that he does not yet know how many cartoonists will participate. The AAEC has more than 300 members, with perhaps a third of them affiliated with daily newspapers and/or major syndicates.

He added that some cartoonists may do a protest cartoon just for the AAEC site (the drawings are due Friday) and then create their usual cartoon for Dec. 12. Others may make their one and only Dec. 12 cartoon the protest one. Trostle said it remains to be seen if any newspapers will balk at running these protest drawings.

Among the reasons for the protest: "The Tribune Co.'s attitude has just flummoxed us," said Trostle, referring to all the cartoonist jobs lost or unfilled at that chain's newspapers.

One of the most common questions I get is "Do you ever get writer’s block?"

The thing I love about that question is that it reveals a wonderful optimism in the person who is asking. I suspect that the people who ask this question believe they possess deep wells of creativity and talent that are inexplicably blocked. All they need is the secret unblocking spell from a cartoonist and then a geyser of bestselling books will spray forth.

I wish I had that kind of attitude. I imagine myself asking an NBA player how he deals with Jumper's Block, under the theory that if I can learn how to unblock my jumping skills, I will no longer need a car. I'll just jump wherever I want to go, like the Hulk, but less angry.

"As a lifelong fan of Marvel comic books, and as an adult reader who’s seen comics "come of age" and take their rightful place in the world of fantasy and science fiction," says Stephen King. "I’m excited to be a part of Roland’s new incarnation."

The series will be illustrated by Eisner-award winning artist Jae Lee. "My life changed overnight when I learned I'd be working with Stephen King!" exclaims Jae Lee. "I know how special The Dark Tower series is to him. I'm incredibly honored that he would allow me to be a guest in his world."

Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films have paid $1.5 million for film rights to the unpublished novel Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless, by first-time writer Ahmet Zappa.

Story concerns a young brother and sister who learn their family is part of a long line of monster hunters. The pair squabble constantly but must band together against the most diabolical creature in the universe.

Book is skedded for publication in August from Random House as a hardcover with full-color art. Zappa wrote the story and penned some 300 illustrations.

Apparently this little book caused all sorts of a bidding buffet in Hollywood, but as they often do, The Mouse House & Bruckheimer, Inc. walked away with the prize.

The insanity of being a writer includes ridiculous hours; even though all my friends think I wake up late, write for a few hours, and then spend the day either wandering the local beaches or meeting fascinating people.

The truth is -- I'm disciplined as a writer, probably more so than I am in anything else in life. I am at my desk within thirty to forty minutes of waking....

....In terms of daily output, this varies. My best days can come out with 25 good pages; my worst days, I am loathe to admit, end with me cutting 20 pages that aren't so good. But cutting those pages helps me move on with the novel. No use getting tangled up in brambles and deadwood. I don't come up with a book, sit down to write it and have it done six weeks later (well, depends on the book.) But I usually stew over a book for a good long time before sitting down to write it.

When I do sit down to write it, yes, that first draft comes fairly quickly (it's the discipline of writing -- it actually gets easier after doing this for more than a decade.) But "fairly quickly" ranges from six weeks to about four months, depending on the novel.

I know some novelists who write terrific novels in two weeks; others take years. I've had one novel, titled You Come When I Call You, that took me about 12 years from start to finish (although I worked on many other novels in between the start and finish.)

I am banning myself from the Internet.

No, not completely (though that might be nice). E-mail is pretty much a professional necessity for me at this point. I'll continue keeping this blog, because I enjoy writing it and others seem to enjoy reading it. I'll continue reading and occasionally responding to my LJ friends list, because it's one of the best ways I have of keeping in touch with friends (both real-life and electronic). I'll continue my eBay sales, because that little bit of extra income helps a lot. I'll maintain my website, and may even overhaul it soon. I'll keep reading eGullet, because it's a valuable food-writing resource and their membership policies keep the number of idiots way, way down.

That's the problem, you see: I have idiot fatigue. I don't except myself from this; the Internet has definitely made me dumber. I can't do anything about the other idiots, but I can do something about myself. I don't want to use Feedster to find out what people have said about me on their blogs. I don't want babybats who think I should just discreetly keel over dead if I'm not going to write that Lost Souls sequel.....

I've long said that the Internet can be a valuable tool for resource and promotion, and I still believe that. People used to liken it to CB radio. I think it's more like a gun: not inherently evil, but dangerous as hell if you mess around with it. The more time I spend online, the less I spend reading and writing, and I can't have that. It's time to get back to work. Fo' rizzle.

"I always liked the idea that SF stood for Speculative Fiction, mostly because it seemed to cover everything, and include the attitude that what we were doing involved speculation. SF was about thinking, about inquiring, about making things up."

"The challenge now is to go forward and to keep going forward: to tell stories that have weight and meaning. It's saying things that mean things, and using the literature of the imagination to do it."

"And that's something that each of us, and the writers who will come afterwards, are going to have to struggle with, to reinvent and make SF say what we need it to say."