'Watchmen,' D.J. Caruso and 'Twilight' in Everyday Hero headlines

Welcome to your Tuesday morning edition of Everyday Hero, the roundup of handpicked headlines from across the fanboy universe.

ALAN MOORE SAYS 'BWAH-HA-HA-HA!': Well, not really, but I just love posting this photograph of him  any chance I get and I do suspect that he would express some glee about the ugly corporate feud that has raised doubts about the planned release of "Watchman," the big Warner Bros. adaptation of Moore's epic. I would call Moore and ask him directly, but the last time we spoke he made it quite clear that he was done talking about the film and Hollywood in general because he more or less loathes the film industry. A judge's surprise ruling last week has created the very real possibility that "Watchmen" might not hit theaters in March -- a shocking development but, now that I think about it, when Moore talked to the Hero Complex in September he seemed to have some mystic premonition of this latest development. "Will the film even be coming out? There are these legal problems now, which I find wonderfully ironic. Perhaps it's been cursed from afar, from England. And I can tell you that I will also be spitting venom all over it for months to come." Spooky! Well, the guy does wear metallic talons and worship an ancient Roman snake god, so I wouldn't want to get on his bad side. And what is the latest on the "Watchmen" case? Here's a statement from Warner Bros.:  "We respectfully but vigorously disagree with the Court’s ruling and are exploring all of our appellate options. We continue to believe that Fox’s claims have no merit and that we will ultimately prevail, whether at trial or in the Court of Appeals. We have no plans to move the release date of the film." "Watchmen" has joined the list of truly contentious Hollywood projects. What are some of the other ones? Check out our new photo gallery "Big Hits, Bitter Battles." 

A DIMMER 'TWILIGHT'?: Reporter Michael Cieply (a former colleague here at the Los Angeles Times) has always been a smart and savvy chronicler of the movie industry, and his take on the real story behind the 2008 box-office returns is especially insightful: "What a year for movie openings. I mean, who could forget 'Twilight'? Teenagers screaming for free tickets outside the dual-theater Westwood premiere here. Mayhem in the malls. Girls thirsting for Robert Pattinson. Box-office projections growing bigger and bigger as online vendors sold out theater after theater. It was amazing. When all is said and done, maybe 24 million tickets will be sold to that movie, based on current sales. That makes it almost as big as, what? 'Patch Adams,' the No. 10 movie of 1998. Or roughly the size of 'George of the Jungle,' which placed No. 13 the year before. Or any number of films that are fondly remembered as midsize hits. Looking back, in fact, 2008 may be remembered as the year when Hollywood succeeded in redefining the Big Event. A "movie of the century" — something that made you want to dress up, get in line, and act silly just to see it — used to come along every year or two. The "Star Wars" films had that quality. So did "Titanic," in a quieter, dreamier sort of way. But heart-stopping film events like that have been popping up every few weeks this year.... Even this year’s really big one, "The Dark Knight," was never quite as big as it felt. Clear away the urgent reports about 6 a.m. screenings and Imax-size demand, and you are left, according to an always-sobering tally kept by the Box Office Mojo website, with the 26th-most-popular movie of all time, in terms of tickets sold. A smart, counterintuitive article, and again you can read the rest right here. [New York Times]

A BRIGHTER "TWILIGHT"?: Remember that Will Rogers line about lies, damn lies and statistics? Joal Ryan has a look-on-the-bright-side article compared with that New York Times piece; Ryan points out that, considering its budget, "Twilight" was a bigger hit than "The Dark Knight" (although it ignores the fact that Warner Bros. made a gazillion dollars on all the product and licensing deals for "Dark Knight"): "If only Wall Street had bet on Twilight. Or Hannah Montana. Or Kirk Cameron. With a $167.3-million overall domestic take as of Sunday, per Box Office Mojo, Twilight made more than four times its reported $37-million production budget — the best rate of return on any film in the 2008 Top 10, including 'The Dark Knight.' The Batman epic was a pretty good investment, too, very nearly tripling its gargantuan $185-million budget with a $530.8-million domestic take, Hollywood's second-biggest ever. Still, 'The Dark Knight' was nothing compared to these off-the-charts performers: 'High School Musical 3: Senior Year' ($89.7 million), which grossed about eight times its $11-million budget; the Hannah Montana concert movie, which made about nine times its $7-million budget; and, Cameron's 'Fireproof,' which cost $500,000 to produce, and made $33.1 million — or, more than 60 times its budget." [E! Entertainment News]

'Y'? BECAUSE WE LIKE YOU: One of the more intriguing comics-as-film projects kicking around town is the D.J. Caruso adaptation of Brian K. Vaughn's wry, sublime series "Y: The Last Man." I talked to D.J. a few months back, and he was mightily enthused about the prospects of making the film with his familiar on-screen muse Shia LaBeouf, but in a recent conversation with Edward Douglas it sounds as if the last-man-on-earth tale is presenting the filmmaker with some headaches: "Yeah, it's been a while. I think it's one of those that the source material is fantastic stuff, it's great, but it's a tough one to lick into getting into a screenplay. I've tried to feel like it's a trilogy of movies and I think everyone sort of agrees, but at the same time, just getting the first movie right and getting the right beats and knowing what to put in, it's been really tough. You have great minds like David Goyer and you've got Carl Ellsworth and you've got Brian K. Vaughn, and I'm working with them to just kind of crack it and get it down. And we're almost there. I know it's a slow process, but I think eventually we'll get it. We're going to get it and we'll get it right, but we had a pretty good breakthrough a couple of  weeks ago in the final act, and hopefully we'll get there.... If you're familiar with the source material, there's so much great stuff and he meets so many great characters but it's over the course of a long period of time. When you're telling the story — yes, the fanboys and all the people who love it will go and see it — but if you're just seeing the movie from a filmgoers' perspective and you're not familiar with the source material, you have to make sure you make the movie that they understand and they love, too. Like I said, it's been more difficult than I thought, but we're getting close." [Comingsoon.net]

LOOK, UP IN THE SKY: Here's some consumer news for you fans of the classic Superman cartoons, this from Robert Greenberger's short article: "Warner Home Video is finally releasing their own version of the Superman cartoons produced by Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer. The 17 classics have been in the public domain and collected repeatedly over the last 20 years. Come April 7, though, the first authorized collection will be released. In addition to the Paramount cartoons, released in 1941 and 1942, the two-disc set will include two extras: 'The Man, The Myth, Superman' and 'First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series.' The set will retail for $26.99 and if you have never seen these cartoons, they are well worth it." [Comic Mix] If you'd like to see a few snippets from the genius work of the Fleischers on the Man of Steel, there's some video at the bottom of this post. 

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: Empire magazine has some exclusive photos from Michael Bay's "Transformers 2" and you can see them right here.

ON THIS DATE: Author Lewis Shiner, whose work began in cyber-punk, drifted into magical realism and often deals with the slippery nature of reality and history, celebrates his 58th birthday today. Today is also the 27th birthday of Kristin Kreuk, the Canadian actress who is best known in the role of Lana Lang on "Smallville," but I especially liked her with Miranda Richardson in the wonderfully weird 2001 television movie "Snow White: The Fairest of Them All." So to celebrate, let's avoid all bad apples today.

Orson Scott Card's game continues with 'Ender in Exile'

One of my favorite science fiction characters of recent decades is Ender Wiggin, the sad little boy who is plucked from his family home and drafted into military service after tests show he is the best chance to save humanity from an alien invasion. Ender is the creation of author Orson Scott Card, who is back with a new book about the reluctant hero: "Ender in Exile." Alicia Lozano, a writer here at the Los Angeles Times, interviewed Card about "Exile," the new Marvel Comics adaptations of the saga and the ongoing talk of a film. Her story is below.

--Geoff Boucher

Twenty-three years have passed since Orson Scott Card first dazzled readers with "Ender’s Game," a seminal work that blurred the lines between young adult and adult fiction and won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, science fiction’s highest honors. Now he’s back with "Ender in Exile," which picks up where the 1985 book left off.

The revival of Ender, the boy hero who saves Earth from bug-like aliens, goes beyond the novel's pages with a new comic book adaptation of the original saga and roiling interest in Hollywood as a potential film franchise.

All of this quite surprises the 57-year-old North Carolina resident, although he suspects the story still resonates partly due to its sad martial tale: Card introduces the protagonist as a 6-year-old prodigy who is bred to be Earth’s future hero, but to achieve this end Ender must train to become the perfect soldier -- cunning, strong, ruthless. He is symptomatic of a war-obsessed society, a reclusive character grappling with the very grown-up issues of isolation and loneliness.

With such powerful themes, Card is at times amused by Ender’s popularity among young readers. He never intended to be a young adult author. He is proud, however, that the books speak to adolescents who are reading them and engaging in serious philosophical conversations during their most malleable years.

“In our society children are kept from adulthood until they graduate college,” he said. “A lot of kids find in Ender an imaginary outlet for an impulse to do something real. It’s like they’re sneaking into an adult conversation.”

When we revisit Ender, he is 17 and exalted as a hero for fending off the third wave of alien marauders that threatened to obliterate Earth. But his brutal military techniques render him a monster to the very people who trained him to be a killer. He is mercilessly exiled from his home planet and forced into a colony that is light years away.

"Exile" is not the first time Card has dipped back into Ender’s universe -- there were three sequels, a spin-off series and several short stories -- but "Exile" fills in the "lost years." That's because in the original follow-up, "Speaker for the Dead," Ender is about 35 years old and healed from the trauma of being Earth’s savior.

'Star Wars,' explained by a 3-year-old

Everybody I know is groggy, either from too much eggnog, a winter head cold or both. So let's not think too much today as we lurch toward 2009.

If you do need a smile, lay off that TheraFlu for a while and watch this painfully cute video of a 3-year-old girl explaining the plot of "Star Wars IV: A New Hope." Is it just me, or does she seem like the great grandaughter of Darla from "The Little Rascals"?

-- Geoff Boucher

RELATED The 2008 Ultimate Fanboy Holiday Gift Guide

MORE RANDOM SILLINESS

VIDEO How many Spider-Mans fit in a Jamba Juice?

Fanboy political parodies

VIDEO Captian Kirk and the Holy Grail

The Rancor vs. George Lucas

VIDEO Mr. T talks smack to Superman

Neil Gaiman and the stuff that dreams are made of

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Neil Gaiman, who is one of the signature talents over the past two decades in comic books as well a writer of increasing renown for his novels and work in Hollywood.

I posted a three-part Q&A from that interview right here on Hero Complex (it began here, continued here and then finished up here) but I also used the conversation as the foundation for a feature on the 20th anniversary of "The Sandman." That feature ran (finally) this morning on the cover of the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times. It won't have many surprises for readers who checked out the full Q&A, but here's an excerpt for everyone else and those Gaiman die-hard fans who just can't get enough when it comes to this sparkling storyteller.

--Geoff Boucher 

Even in casual conversation, British author Neil Gaiman sometimes sounds as if he's narrating some dark fairy tale -- his sentences slither across old stone floors or flit on gossamer wings. He also happens to live in a rambling Minnesota manse that looks, Gaiman says, as if it were "drawn by Charles Addams on a day he was feeling particularly morbid."

So it's no surprise that fans of the fantasy novelist have whispered for years that Gaiman bears more than a passing resemblance to his signature creation, the Sandman, the spooky comic-book character that debuted 20 years ago and brought a new literary ambition to the pop medium.

"He's a lot like me, only with an immortal's superpowers and no sense of humor of any kind," Gaiman said. "Hmm. So in fact, he isn't anything like me at all, but he does have very messy hair. That was a great point of correspondence between me and the character. He's much paler than I am too."

Gaiman came up in the comic-book world, but his prowess as a storyteller took him far beyond its bordered pages. His bestselling novels "American Gods" and "Anansi Boys" helped establish his credentials with the critics, and the sly 1998 fantasy "Stardust" was adapted to the screen in 2007. His other Hollywood pursuits have included the Robert Zemeckis computer-animated epic "Beowulf" (Gaiman co-wrote the script) and the February release "Coraline," which director Henry Selick ("The Nightmare Before Christmas") is adapting from Gaiman's novel for young adults.

But despite that career climb, it is the character of Sandman that follows most closely at the feet of the 48-year-old Gaiman like some staircase shadow. Far from a superhero, Sandman was a supernatural lord of dreams, going by several names, including Dream and Morpheus. In 75 monthly issues that spanned seven years, the spectral being brought readers into often nightmarish worlds like some cross between Rod Serling and one of the Christmas spooks from Dickens.

Gaiman said that he came to the premise with a sort of "1,001 Arabian Nights" motivation.

"It was an idea of trying to take something very literally: What would it be like to live in dreams? A lot of that came out of terror. I was a young writer and had never written anything monthly. I needed a story shape that could take me anywhere, because my fear was: What if I run out of stories? So I thought, 'I will have somebody who has existed since the dawn of time, so that gives me the entirety of human history to play with for stories.'"

                                            READ THE REST OF THE STORY

RECENT AND RELATED

Alan Moore on "Watchmen" film: "I will be spitting venom all over it."

Neil Gaiman on the Hollywood future of "Sandman"

Exclusive set photos: "Coraline" coming to life

Frank Miller searches for the "Spirit" of Will Eisner

Christopher Nolan says his Batman doesn't play well with others

Photo of Neil Gaiman in Manhattan in 2007,  by Jennifer S. Altman for the Los Angeles Times. Photo of Alan Moore, circa 2001, in Northampton, England, shot by Graham Barclay for the Los Angeles Times.

Weight loss comics, David Fincher and 'Star Trek' in Everyday Hero headlines

The final days of 2008 are ticking down, but the news never stops. Here's a busy Monday morning edition of Everyday Hero, a roundup of handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe.

SO IS IT LIKE MATTER-EATER LAD? In the category of reader's digest, we bring you "The Big Skinny: How I Changed My Fattitude," which may be the first "memoir-as-self-help-book-as-graphic-novel," presenting a true challenge to the shelfing system over at Barnes & Noble. The book is the handiwork of Carol Lay, the cartoonist behind the weekly strip WayLay, and she talked recently to Michael C. Lorah about living large: "'I was obese when I was 19, reaching 206 pounds before my mom sent me to a doctor who put me on diet pills. I shed 40 pounds pretty quickly, but then I was addicted to speed for a few years. Over the next 28 years or so I yoyo-ed between 140 and 160, but I was often at the larger size. And I was unhappy. Not because I was fat; I was fat because I was unhappy, but the two states feed on each other. One day I looked at a photo of myself and made a decision to change. At the same time I started taking a good look at myself so I could root out the underlying causes of my self-defeating behavior. This part was necessary for me to finally make a whole-body change. I needed to understand where I’d been in order to see what wasn’t working for me any longer. This is what I put in the book that makes it different. I tell my story, a personal journey –- sometimes funny, sometimes kind of sad, but always honest –- as it relates to changing this aspect of my life. And the graphic aspect of this book really makes it stand out. The information is accessible, immediate and entertaining. The color is gorgeous –- I’m very happy with how it turned out.'" [Newsarama]

TALKING "TORSO": Filmmaker David Fincher was talking to MTV about "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (a film, by the way, that now has a grim footnote after a shooting in Philly) and the topic turned to "Ness," his planned (and retitled) adaptation of "Torso," a true-crime tale that sits on my "favorite graphic novels" shelf. The director of "Fight Club" and "Zodiac" said nothing to dissuade rumors that Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are likely cast members and he talked a bit about the allure of the Eliot Ness story: "'[Ness is] kind of the self-righteous, American do-gooder,' Fincher told MTV. 'He was an interesting and extremely flawed guy who had a lot of problems. He did a lot of destructive things in the name of cleaning up the streets.' Fincher said it was the 'flawed' heroism of Eliot Ness that attracted him to the story in 'Torso,' which was initially published in 1998 by Image Comics. The graphic novel chronicles Ness’ experiences after rising to fame as the leader of Chicago’s Prohibition-era law enforcers 'The Untouchables,' and his decision to leave Chicago for a position as Cleveland’s Safety Director — only to have an investigation of the notorious 'Torso Murderer' complicate his life and career. 'Not to take anything away from [Ness] — he wasn’t an evil guy at all — but at one point in his career he burned to the ground a shanty town in Cleveland,” said Fincher. 'This was three or four years after the Untouchables. He was just like 27 when The Untouchables happened. He was really young.' 'He sort of fashioned himself as a J. Edgar Hoover,' added Fincher. 'The bureau’s image of Ness and how he stole some of their limelight is in there.'" [MTV]

FACES TO WATCH 2009: This past Sunday's Los Angeles Times Calendar section had a feature on "Faces to Watch for 2009" in film, music and the Web, and I wrote two of the entries; one is Chris Pine, who I am officially predicting will do great things as the new Capt. James T. Kirk (a forecast based entirely on the 30 minutes' worth of footage I've seen from the J.J. Abrams revival of "Star Trek"), and the other is Malin Akerman from "Watchmen," who pretty much makes me dizzy when she does that whole curvy crimefighting thing. Also check what my colleague John Horn wrote about Sam Worthington, who poised for a huge 2009 with "Terminator Salvation" and will also star in the upcoming "Avatar," and a longer (and great) article that Hero Complex contributor Denise Martin wrote about Tahmoh Penikett, who is going from "Battlestar Galactica" to "Dollhouse." [Los Angeles Times]...ALSO: Speaking of "Star Trek" and "Watchmen," previews for those films finished atop Cinematical's list of the seven best trailers for 2008.

SHATNER TALKS ... AND TALKS ... AND TALKS: Writer Nancy Franklin has a fun appraisal of the new talk show hosted by William Shatner, although she doesn't mention how thrilling it would be if Chris Pine were to be announced as one of the upcoming guests. Here's what Franklin did write: "William Shatner is, forty years after the end of the original 'Star Trek,' a ham that has got only more delicious with time. As much of him as there is out there — Priceline ads, the ABC series 'Boston Legal' (which just finished its run last week), the public squawking about whether or not he was invited to George Takei’s wedding or how he felt about being left out of the new 'Star Trek' movie — is there ever enough? I think not. His half-hour interview show, 'Shatner’s Raw Nerve,' on the BIO channel (an offshoot of A&E), could bring on Shatner fatigue, though, thanks to a guest list that is rigorously uncompelling, daring you not to yawn. Some of his guests this season are Tim Allen, Valerie Bertinelli, Kelsey Grammer, Judge Judy, Jenna Jameson, and Jimmy Kimmel. But, as it happens, Shatner’s intense weirdness makes things compelling. In the first two episodes, he elicits some thoughtful comments from Allen on death and on screwing up his life, and he attempts to have a worthwhile exchange with Bertinelli on the subject of sin. Unsurprisingly, beneath Shatner’s persona of an egotist glorying in and making fun of his own egotism — and please, Bill, don’t ever change — is a very engaging oddball." [The New Yorker]...ALSO: To see some footage from "William Shatner's Raw Nerve" go to bottom of this post. Also you can read my odd interview with Shatner at a Starbucks on Ventura Boulevard right here.

KEANU STIFF, WRITER SURPRISED: The remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" hit theaters way back on Dec. 12, so it was a bit odd to see it as the subject of an Editorial Notebook piece in today's New York Times opinions section. More surprising, though, is that its author, Brent Staples, is unaware that actor Keanu Reeves is actually a mannequin. Staples compares the new film to the original and found that the new "Stood Still" left him unmoved: "The minimalist — and altogether cool — effects in the 1951 film leave lots of room for the performers. Michael Rennie is aces as Klaatu, the brainy, handsome and thoroughly polite alien who threatens to eliminate every creature on the planet — kittens, puppies and cute little babies included — if earthlings become a danger to the galaxy. Watching the movie as a middle-aged man, I saw what I lacked eyes to see as a 12-year-old. There is no shred of sentimentality in Rennie’s performance. He is a congenial exterminating angel, dropping round for tea to tell of horrors to come. Rennie’s Klaatu is God-fearing, emotionally sophisticated, superior to but indistinguishable from the earthlings among whom he walks. That’s an open-minded characterization at the start of a decade dominated by red-baiting and fear of outlanders in general. Keanu Reeves’s Klaatu is numbingly monotonic. He is emotionally underdeveloped, and suffers from a robotic flatness of affect. Instead, the scriptwriters gave him powers that are predictably demonstrated through pricey special effects that do not sustain dramatic momentum. With all this digital sleight of hand, the performers are reduced to the equivalent of bystanders at a fireworks show." [New York Times]

TAPE EJECT: It's not really a fanboy story (although it does mention Superman), but I had a big front-page story in the L.A. Times this past week on the final pop-culture death of the VHS tape and if you're curious you can find it right here.

ON THIS DATE: Today is the 32nd birthday of Danny McBride, who blew it up real good in "Tropic Thunder" and will be running from dinosaurs this summer in the remake of the Krofft Bros classic "Land of the Lost." Today is also the 36th birthday of Jude Law, whose filography includes a surprising number of sci-fi films with "Artificial Intelligence:AI," "eXistenZ," "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" and "Gattaca." Next, Law will be starring as Dr. Watson opposite title-role star Robert Downey Jr. in Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes," so to celebrate let's try to keep everything elementary today.

The grim dance of 'Waltz With Bashir'

What current film am I most eager to see? That would be "Waltz With Bashir," the Israeli animated film, a choice that may surprise regular readers of this blog because the majority of my time and keystrokes are devoted to the mainstream superhero cinema of the moment.

You may not even have heard about "Bashir," which was written and directed by Ari Folman, the Haifa native who has become one of his nation's top documentary filmmakers and is also one of the writers on the Israeli TV show that became HBO's "In Treatment." Here's a trailer for "Bashir," Folman's third film and his first animated feature.

Wow. The images, the themes and the techniques put "Bashir" in a fascinating sector of recent illustrated books and films; Joe Sacco's "Palestine" and Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" spring to mind quickly, while Richard Linklater's grossly underrated "A Scanner Darkly" may be a dream-time distant cousin. And with the events that are unfolding right now in Gaza City, the film has an urgency and painful relevance for today's audience...

"Bashir" opened in the U.S. on Christmas Day. The film, made for $1.5 million and by eight animators, revolves around Folman's military duty during Israel's controversial invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the searing nightmares that remain with him. "Bashir" took five years to make and, apparently, is only the second animated film in the history of Israeli cinema.

I've been poking around the Internet, and everything I've read about the film makes me want to see it more.

'Watchmen' ruling, Eartha Kitt and 'The Green Hornet' all in Everyday Hero headlines

Welcome to the holiday hangover edition of Everyday Hero, your roundup of handpicked headlines from across the fanboy universe. Today is Dec. 26. 2008, and, like the egg nog you find in your fridge in March, there's nothing but sourness in today's update....

FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN: Just when you thought the long, strange odyssey of the "Watchmen" film adaptation had settled into a steady stroll toward a March release date, a California courtroom decision looks at the Rorschach test and sees something completely different. Now the release date of the film may actually be pushed back. An old friend, Michael Cieply, has the story: "In a surprise ruling, a federal judge in Los Angeles said he intended to grant 20th Century Fox’s claim that it owns a copyright interest in the 'Watchmen,' a movie shot by Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures and set for release in March. The decision was disclosed in a five-page written order issued on Wednesday. Gary A. Feess, a judge in the United States District Court for Central California, said he would provide a more detailed order soon. Fox has been seeking to prevent Warner from releasing the film. The superhero adventure, based on the 'Watchmen' graphic novel, is being directed by Zack Snyder (who also directed '300') and has shaped up as one of most eagerly anticipated releases for next year. A Warner spokesman, Scott Rowe, declined to comment on the ruling and the studio’s plans. At an earlier hearing, the judge said he believed that issues in the case could be settled only at a trial, which was scheduled for late January. On Wednesday, however, Judge Feess said he had reconsidered and concluded that Fox should prevail on crucial issues. 'Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the "Watchmen" motion picture,' the ruling said. Fox acquired rights to the 'Watchmen' graphic novel in the late 1980s for the producer Lawrence Gordon, but eventually dropped its own plan to make a movie from its story, about the underside of life for superbeings." [New York Times]

EARTHA ANGEL: Entertainer Eartha Kitt died on Christmas Day at age 81. Kitt replaced Julie Newmar as Catwoman on the old "Batman" television series starring Adam West, and she was also nominated for an Emmy for her work on "I Spy." She also gave a delightful edge to "The Emperor's New Groove" as the villain of the 2001 animated hit. The best Kitt obituary I've seen was on the BBC website and here's an excerpt: "Once described by Orson Welles as the most exciting woman in the world, Kitt's smouldering, feline drawl in memorable hits, such as Santa Baby, Old Fashioned Millionaire and I Wanna Be Evil conveyed a wealth of innuendo. Ostracized at an early age for her mixed race heritage, international star Kitt defied criticism of her illegitimate past and conquered the entertainment world with finesse. Born in 1927, she endured a tough childhood. Kitt's mother, who worked on a cotton plantation, was just 14 when she gave birth, the white father thought to have been the son of the plantation owner. Kitt's features, neither black nor white, led to her being accepted by neither community. She was given away by her mother at the age of eight to live with an aunt in Harlem, New York City. Little did she know that this would be the start of a long showbiz career. With a flair for the dramatic, Kitt, aged 15, auditioned for the famed Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe and won a spot as a featured dancer. The work took her worldwide, and her unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in French during the European tour. It was during a performance in Paris that she caught a certain director's eye, and was cast as Helen of Troy in Orson Welles' production of 'Dr Faust'." [BBC]

CHOW SAYS CIAO TO "HORNET": I'm playing a bit of catch-up on news that was reported in the days leading up to Christmas, such as this item in the trades by Michael Fleming about some turbulence with "The Green Hornet," a film that started as an action movie and then became a comedy and now appears to be losing some of its star power: "There's been another change in the 'Hornet' nest: Stephen Chow has dropped out as director of 'The Green Hornet' but will still play Kato in Columbia Pictures' latest bid to get the crimefighter to the bigscreen. The studio and producer Neal Moritz are in the process of setting a new director to keep the picture on track to begin production by spring. The character began on radio in the 1930s and is best known from the '60s TV version. But a bigscreen translation is having a long gestation, going through many incarnations, including as a proposed George Clooney vehicle. Chow, who directed and starred in 'Kung Fu Hustle' and 'Shaolin Soccer,' signed in September to direct the film and play the role originated in the TV series by Bruce Lee. He stepped out as director over creative differences. The film was scripted by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and Rogen is starring as the masked crime fighter. The script will likely be polished, and a director could be in place by year's end." [Variety]...BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE: A few days later the AP then reported that Chow might skip on the acting role in Hornet as well to free up his schedule to work on a Jack Black superhero comedy, which we can only pray will be half as funny as this Tenacious D music video for Wonderboy.

THE LION AND THE MOUSE: You know the economy is rough when the Walt Disney Co. walks away from a proven franchise because they don't want to ante up the investment. Veteran Hollywood reporter Claudia Eller has the lowdown on Disney's decision to bow out of the "Chronicles of Narnia" series, which is poised for it third installment, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader": "A Disney spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that the Burbank studio decided not to exercise its option to co- finance the third movie in the franchise based on C.S. Lewis' classic children's books because of 'budgetary considerations.' Though the budget of the movie came in significantly below the $200-million cost of 'Prince Caspian,' the second film in the 'Narnia' series, it could still escalate during production, and that made Disney wary, according to a person close to the movie. Disney was partners with Walden Media, which owns the rights to the books, on the first two 'Narnia' films. Disney's decision not to proceed with 'Dawn Treader' shows how it is being more selective in the number of pictures it releases. Studios are scrutinizing costs more carefully and in many instances passing on expensive pictures that until recently might have been given an automatic green light. Disney was also uneasy that the budget of 'Dawn Treader' was subject to other uncontrollable factors, such as uncertainty about the tax breaks and rebates, a weak U.S. dollar and the high cost of visual effects. One person close to the matter said there were also 'creative' differences between Disney and Walden, and that the two disagreed on when to release the film in 2010. Walden said Wednesday that it hoped to find a new financial partner and proceed with plans to shoot the film in the first quarter of next year with director Michael Apted." [Los Angeles Times]

ON THIS DATE: Character actor Vincent Schiavelli died on this day in 2005 in Sicily at the age of 57 after a battle with lung cancer. The Brooklyn native enjoyed a long career built around comic timing and his world-weary eyes. Most people will remember him in the films "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Better Off Dead" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," but fanboys will also recall him in the great cult classic "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension," "Batman Returns" and "Tomorrow Never Dies," as well as his television in work in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The X-Files," just to name a few. In his honor today, let's all say "big-boo-TAY" over and over and giggle when people stare at us.

(P.S.: If you want to see the trailer for "Buckaroo," it is at the bottom of this post...)

Lights shining on Wonder Woman

There's a long and vivid history of comics and the music world colliding in strange ways. Remember when Marvel published KISS comics? Or when R. Crumb drew the cover for the "Cheap Thrills" album by Big Brother and the Holding Company? How about that sleek John Byrne artwork on Joe Satriani's "Surfing with the Alien" cover? Those popped into my mind when Warner Bros Records sent me a copy of an EP by the Canadian singer who calls herself Lights as well as her bio, which told a fanciful version of her life in comic-book form.

The 21-year-old Lights drew the comic and the album cover herself and is a passionate comics fan, as proven by the tattoo on her back that is modeled on the cover of a Wonder Woman issue. In the EP booklet she drew a white-winged space girl with a tapered laser pistol that Flash Gordon would admire. The caption: "Our struggles is not against flesh and blood but against the forces and powers of a dark world." Well, clearly, this is a singer who needed a visit to the Hero Complex blog, so I was happy when she agreed to write up a post on her 10 favorite Wonder Woman battles, which you can find below. You can check out her music at her My Space page, her official website or in the music video for twinkling "February Air" at the bottom of this post. Thanks again to Lights and happy holidays everyone.

-- Geoff Boucher

10) Wonder Woman vs. Cheetah
Cheetah, once a beautiful and rich but desperate woman who was turned into a cheetah-woman as a result of a curse from a lusty situation with an African god, is insanely jealous of Wonder Woman. One prominent battle between the two occurred while Wonder Woman was incarcerated (by choice of course! She turned herself in for the murder of Max Lord. Obviously goddesses don't need to stay incarcerated if they don't want). Cheetah stalked Wonder Woman in her cell, waiting for everyone to clear out before jumping her in the dark. The battle was vicious and filled with claws, but cheetah left with her tail between her legs as usual.

9) Wonder Woman vs. Zoom
Wonder Woman's battle with Zoom (an insane reverse version of the Flash) who can travel in and out of time to achieve incredible speed, took them from Boston to the Great Wall of China, all the way to Wonder Woman's home of Paradise Island in a matter of seconds. Zoom can fight at the speed of light, thus putting up a good fight for Wonder Woman. Though, he pushed his luck when he punched one of Wonder Woman's Amazon sisters over 200 times in one second! In the end Zoom escaped, so there was no clear winner in this battle, but it was a good one to see go down! P.S.: Wonder Woman was blind for this whole battle!

8) Wonder Woman vs. Darkseid
Darkseid is a looming threat all throughout the DC Universe, and with his god-like powers he is certainly a force to be reckoned with. With ambitions to obtain control over the universe, Darkseid summoned his minions from planet Apokolips to invade Themyscira in hopes of finding the location of the Olympian gods to steal their power. The Amazons, alongside Wonder Woman, were hurled into an intense battle against him and his vast army of semi-demon warriors. He ceased wreaking his havoc only once he discovered he would not find what he was looking for there, and withdrew his troops leaving Paradise Island with more than half of its population dead. This was a battle that Wonder Woman and the Amazons actually lost. It brings anger to my heart against Darkseid, passionate anger! And that is why I have included it in my list of sweet battles.

7) Wonder Woman vs. the White Magician
The White Magician is an insane super-sorcerer who utilizes high powered spells and can morph into his extremely powerful demonic form with huge horns and giant claws. In one gruesome battle, neither Circe (disguised in a mortal form, typically an immortal sorceress) nor Artemis (a fellow Amazon of Wonder Woman) could take down the White Magician in his demonic form. After many body slams and gnashing of claws, Wonder Woman prevailed -- though badly hurt -- despite his immense power!

6) Wonder Woman vs. Hades
Hades is the lord of the underworld who has power over all the dead and dark spirits. He dresses very classy with a top hat and cane. Most of his battles involve much less one-on-one action and more mind manipulation and scaring through the use of his spirits. When Wonder Woman was commissioned by Athena to fetch Hermes from the dead, she entered into Hades (Hades' realm, the underworld) blinded and lost and tormented by spirits and fears for 117 days, but in reality it was only mere minutes! This particular drawn-out battle ended in the healthful restoration of Hermes and the death of Hades by the axe of his nephew, Ares (not necessarily on Wonder Woman's side, but was promised he could gain power over the underworld if he killed Hades). Wonder Woman won with the help of others in this battle. Teamwork!

More Marvel holiday covers

Thanks for stopping by Hero Complex during the holiday week, apologies again for the sparse posting pace, we'll be back at full speed before the first of the year...

Last week I put up some great Marvel holiday comics art through the years and Jim McCann over at Marvel sent me a nice note and even more images. So, happy holidays and enjoy these ghosts of Christmas past ...

Here's a classic yuletide image from my childhood. I loved the oversized Marvel and DC books of the 1970s. This 1974 collection of reprints included "Have Yourself a Sandman Little Christmas!" from "Marvel Team-Up" No. 1 and a classic battle between Hulk and the Thing that had pretty much had nothing to do with the holidays.

The Marvel Holiday Special became a tradition during the 1991 holiday season when this issue below kicked off the annual series. Art Adams did the cover and he also drew the Fantastic Four story inside:

And here's the full wraparound cover version...run, Santa, run!

Geez, what did St. Nick do to deserve that kind of scare?

Gabriel Macht looks for his heroic moment

I ran into Gabriel Macht -- literally-- last week at the premiere of "The Spirit." We were both in the lobby of Grauman's Chinese Theatre walking briskly in different directions when we collided. He smiled and gave me big slap on the back -- the guy seemed to be glowing, he was so excited. We had met last summer when I was the moderator of "The Spirit" panel in Comic-Con International in San Diego and then we met up recently for a cup of coffee and an interview that we conducted while hiking through the Hollywood Hills.

That interview resulted in the story below, which is running in the Los Angeles Times tomorrow as a lead-up to the opening of "The Spirit" on Christmas Day.

Once upon a time, superhero roles were considered career-killers. But not anymore, not with Christian Bale, Will Smith, Robert Downey Jr. and Hugh Jackman proving that if the glove fits, you should wear it.

Still, for Gabriel Macht, who suits up as the latest masked man in “The Spirit,” which opens Christmas Day, there are new and different risks in this modern era of cinematic crime fighting.
For one thing, there’s the danger of getting upstaged by the bad guy, who in “The Spirit” happens to be the nefarious Octopus, a near-invulnerable crime boss played with great zeal by Samuel L. Jackson. Macht first got a sense of that threat while doing an informal script read-through with his future costar.

“I needed earplugs when Samuel L. Jackson started doing lines, he had the volume at 11,” Macht said with a bewildered smile a year after the table read. “Look, when actors come to read-through in Hollywood they don’t give anything; everything is a whisper. They’re not risking, they’re not showing anything, and they’re not trying to do stuff with the character. The attitude is: ‘Put on a camera, get me lights and makeup and hair and wardrobe, that’s when I’ll perform.’ Not Sam. He shows up and he was screaming and went crazy. It lifted everyone. And I knew way back then that we were going to be taking chances in this movie.”

And “The Spirit," is absolutely a film that cranks the volume and goes for broke. The movie aspires to mint a leading-man career for Macht, who may be a veteran of the New York stage and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon School of Drama but has a Hollywood résumé of supporting roles and indie fare. The movie is the solo directorial debut of Frank Miller, the acclaimed comic book creator, and, like his artwork in the pages of “300” and “Sin City,” “The Spirit” is a stylized vivid visual swirl that instantly divided viewers into love-it-or-hate-it factions at advance screenings. 

Majel Rodenberry, 'The Wolf Man' and Frank Miller's 'Buck Rogers,' all in Everyday Hero headlines

Sorry for the skimpy blog this week! I'm trying to finish up some long pieces for the upcoming 2009 Film Sneaks Issue of the Los Angeles Times and also keep pace with assorted holiday doings. Anyway, here is a two-day edition of Everyday Hero, your roundup of handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe ...

MAJEL B. RODDENBERRY DIES AT 76: One of the signature faces -- and voices -- of "Star Trek" through the decades has died. Majel B. Roddenberry, the widow of "Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, died Thursday in Bel-Air after a battle with leukemia. My colleague Dennis McLellan has written a fine obituary, here's an excerpt: "'She was a valiant lady,' Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock on 'Star Trek,' told The Times. 'She worked hard, she was straightforward, she was dedicated to 'Star Trek' and Gene, and a lot of people thought very highly of her.' Once dubbed 'The First Lady of 'Trek'' by the Chicago Tribune, Majel (sounds like Mabel) Barrett Roddenberry was associated with 'Star Trek' from the beginning. In the first TV pilot, she played a leading role as Number One, the first officer who was second in command. But at the request of various executives, changes were made, and she did not reprise her role in the second TV pilot. Instead, she played the minor role of Nurse Chapel when the series began airing on NBC in September 1966. Roddenberry had another distinction: Beginning with the original series, she supplied the coolly detached voice of the USS Enterprise's computer -- something she did on the various 'Star Trek' series. She also was the voice of the Starship Enterprise for six of the 10 'Star Trek' movies that have been released, as well as the 11th, which is due out next year. Roddenberry also played Dr. Christina Chapel in two of the "Star Trek" movies, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' and 'Star Trek: The Voyage Home.' And she played the recurring role of the flamboyant Lwaxana Troi on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' and 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.' Roddenberry, whose pre-'Star Trek' acting career included guest appearances on series such as 'The Untouchables' and 'The Lucy Show,' had no idea she was establishing a career path in science fiction when she took her first 'Star Trek' role. 'Not at all,' she said in a 2002 interview with the Tulsa World. 'I certainly didn't have any idea that I'd be doing it this long, for so many different shows and films -- especially as a product of a series that was a flop. The original was only on for three years. It wasn't considered a success by anyone's standards.'" [Los Angeles Times] ... ALSO: Here's a photo gallery of the actress in various roles.

VAMPING AT THE MUSEUM: It's been a big year for fangs and pierced arteries and now there's an exhibit titled "Gothic: Dark Glamour" (running through Feb. 21) at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. Critic Karen Rosenberg has written an especially vivid review, here's an excerpt: "Organized by Valerie Steele, the director of the Fashion Institute of Technology’s museum, the show unfolds in a nightmarish mise-en-scène conceived by the British artist and set designer Simon Costin. The clothes have been installed in a labyrinth of haunted palaces, ruined castles and cemetery-gate enclosures. Naturally it all takes place in F.I.T.’s cryptlike basement galleries. The gloom and doom can be overpowering, but Ms. Steele and Mr. Costin understand that too much is never enough for the goth devotee. And it’s impossible to upstage the clothes, with their capes, corsetry and fetishistic hardware. As uniformly macabre as it is, 'Gothic: Dark Glamour' resonates with several groups. Fashionistas will relish the chance to see famous creations by Oliver Theyskens, Ann Demeulemeester and other avant-garde designers. Readers of Poe, Shelley and other Romantic literature will enjoy seeing gothic characters and settings come to life (or undeath). And the eager consumers of adolescent vampire fantasies, from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' to 'Twilight,' will thrill to the clothes’ sex-and-death subtext...At F.I.T. an antechamber to the main gallery displays fashions representative of three gothic muses: the victim, the widow and the vamp. In the victim category are filmy gowns that could have been worn by the swooning subject of Henry Fuseli’s 1871 painting 'The Nightmare.' (A reproduction is on view.) In the widow category is Victorian mourning dress: suffocatingly high-necked, monochromatic black ensembles. In the most spectacular category, that of the vamp, is a scarlet dress by Eiko Ishioka made for Francis Ford Coppola’s film “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Its cascading bustle suggests spilled blood...Also in the show’s first section is a fascinating curio cabinet of gothic accessories, among them a bat-shaped belt buckle, a brooch made from a pigeon’s wing and a bottle of laudanum. Some objects date from the Victorian era, others from current collections; it can be difficult to tell which is which." [New York Times] MORE: You can find the museum's website and info on the exhibit right here.

THE "BUCK" STARTS HERE?: A few weeks ago I met up with Gabriel Macht, the star of "The Spirit," for coffee and he told me that he wants to make as many films as he can with Frank Miller. He would like, in fact, to become the director's on-screen muse, a la Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro (or, these, days, Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio). Well, Macht might want to start diving into some old Buster Crabbe movie serials. Why? Here's the story in the trades today by Steven Zeitchik and Borys Kit: "Frank Miller and Odd Lot Entertainment, the creator and production company behind the upcoming comic-book adventure 'The Spirit,' are close to teaming again on the classic sci-fi property 'Buck Rogers.' Odd Lot, the shingle run by Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Prete, is in negotiations to option the rights to 'Rogers' from Nu Image/Millennium, which obtained those rights this year from the Dille Trust. Millennium is expected to get a credit on the movie but won't be involved in day-to-day production. John Flint Dille, a friend of Miller's, operates the trust, which may have partly prompted rumors at the time of the Millennium acquisition that the comic auteur-turned-filmmaker might come aboard to direct. But Miller was not attached at the time; he only became involved when Odd Lot entered the picture. Miller will write and direct his own big-screen take on the comic serial; while the creator has only begun to sketch ideas, it's expected to be a darker take, with many of Miller's signature visual elements and themes, such as corruption and redemption. It's likely to be a priority project for Miller, though he has been mulling a 'Sin City' sequel." [The Hollywood Reporter]

HOW WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE?: Director Joe Johnston will be bringing Captain America to the screen but first he has "The Wolf Man" next November. Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro will be handling the hairier parts of the script while Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt will be the characters looking for a leash. Del Toro talked to MTV and explained that for his research he went back much further than "Teen Wolf": 'I definitely looked at what Lon Chaney Jr. did in the original ‘Wolf Man’ and the movie,' Del Toro told MTV News. “I also looked at the ‘Werewolf of London,’ the Henry Hull movie, which was made maybe 6 years before in 1935, and looked at ‘Curse of the Werewolf’ with Oliver Reed.”  While they are staying faithful to the aforementioned 1941 Chaney Jr. version (generally accepted as the 'classic' Wolf man movie), he notes that there will be some minor deviations from the story that center around actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, who plays his father in the film. He spills some background details on the characters and notes that he and the legendary thespian won’t be playing very nice together either. 'Anthony Hopkins’ role was [originally] played by Claude Rains and the relationship between Rains and Lon Chaney Jr. was a good father and son [relationship]. In [our version], it's definitely fractured, I’m like the prodigal son, I’ve been gone, he sent me away when I was a child and I haven’t seen him in twenty six years and I come home again to visit my brother who’s missing, but I [also play an] actor too which is also different.' Don’t expect other monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein or the Mummy to walk into the frame either. 'You mean, the guy named Dracula waiting in the taxi outside?, Del Toro cracked. 'No, there’s no other monsters coming into play, that’s maybe down the line.' [MTV Movie News]

HERO COMPLEX, FOR REAL: Reporter Joshuah Bearman and photographer Stefan Ruiz went around the country visiting with people who dress up in costumes and fight crime. The result is a truly loopy look at a cultural curiosity. An excerpt from Bearman's article, which is in the newest issue of Rolling Stone: "Like other real life superheroes, Master Legend is not an orphan from a distant dying sun or the mutated product of a gamma-ray experiment gone awry. He is not an eccentric billionaire moonlighting as a crime fighter. He is, as he puts it, 'just a man hellbent on battling evil.' Although Master Legend was one of the first to call himself a Real Life Superhero, in recent years a growing network of similarly homespun caped crusaders has emerged across the country. Some were inspired by 9/11. if malevolent individuals can threaten the world, the argument goes, why can't other individuals step up to save it? 'What is Osama Bin Laden if not a super villain off in a cave, scheming to destroy us?' asks Green Scorpion, a masked avenger in Arizona. True to comic-book tradition, each superhero has his own aesthetic. Green Scorpion's name is derived from his desert home, from which he recently issued a proclamation to 'the criminals of Arizona and beyond,' warning that to continue illegal activities is to risk the 'Sting of the Green Scorpion!' The Eye takes his cue from the primordial era of Detective Comics, prowling Mountain  View, California, in a trench coat, goggles and black fedora featuring a self-designed logo: the 'all-seeing' eye of Horus. Superhero -- his full name -- is a former wrestler from Clearwater, Florida, who wears red and blue spandex and a burgundy helicopter helmet and drives a 1975 Corvette Stingray customized with the license plates that read SUPRHRO." [Rolling Stone] Want to read the rest? You'll have to buy the magazine now on the stands, the article isn't available online at this time.

ON THIS DATE: Today, Dec. 19, is the 34th birthday of Takashi Sorimachi, the star of "Great Teacher Onizuka" and "Fulltime Killer" and an actor that some call the "Tom Cruise of Japan"... Also, the great Robert B. Sherman is 83 today. He and his brother, Richard Sherman, are a vital part of Disney's history as the songwriters behind charming classics such as "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers," "It's a Small World (After All)." To celebrate, let's all get a song stuck in our head today.

Majel B. Roddenberry photo courtesy of the Roddenberry Archives. The bat top hat was made by milliner Justin Smith and the image is courtesy of Museum at F.I.T., which has the headwear on display in "Gothic" exhibit. The image from "The Wolf Man" is courtesy of Universal Pictures. Tigger image courtesy of Disney.

Eddie Murphy as the Riddler? What?

Eddie Murphy as the Riddler and Shia LeBeouf as Robin?  Where do they come up with this stuff?

Apparently from the British tabloid The Sun, or more specifically, the gossip section of the Sun -- Gordon Smart's Bizarre. Comments were slowly trickling in, with readers' reactions generally beginning with statements like, "Oh please God don''t use Eddie!"

Not sure which is weirder -- that they would run the story expecting the world to jump on board, or that they didn't expect other sites (such as Cinema Blend) would refute the news with their own sources.

Admittedly, Hero Complex has pushed for Angelina Jolie to throw her cowl into the Catwoman discussion, but going off of news from "insider sources," the site also speculated that Rachel Weisz was up for the role. Speculation is fine, it's even fun, but hopefully it's not reported as news.

Too bad that the impressionist with 100 faces, Emmy-nominated Frank Gorshin (left), isn't available for Riddler duty.

-- Jevon Phillips

Photo: Associated Press. Frank Gorshin in 1979.

RELATED

Christopher Nolan says his Batman doesn't play well with others

Robin gets his own pre-Batman TV series

'Ex Machina' is art imitating ... art?

I've told you before how much I admire "Ex Machina,"  and I wanted to let you know about a fun surprise in the newest issue, No. 40, which hit stands today. (Stop reading now if you don't want any cats let out of any bags. ...)

The story, written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Tony Harris, finds Mayor Mitchell Hundred seeking collaborators for an autobiographical project -- a graphic-novel account of his first term as the chief executive of New York City. The final few pages of the issue have some guest creators drop by, and they are none other than writer Garth Ennis and artist Jim Lee. Nice!

-- Geoff Boucher

Image credits: Wildstorm/DC Comics

Have a Marvel-ous holiday

I absolutely loved holiday issues of Marvel Comics when I was a kid.

So I thought that today, with eight days left until Christmas and an avalanche of work to do on my desk, I would take a bit of breather from the blog and give you some yuletide comics art, both new and old, to enjoy. Here, for instance, is the cover to "Marvel Adventures Spider-Man" No. 46, which hit stands last week with a great cover by Skott Young: 

And here are two especially merry (and menacing) mutant covers from the library. The Santa Claws cover from "Wolverine" No. 49 is by Laurence Campbell from 2006 while Terry Austin drew the 1981 cover for "The Uncanny X-Men" No. 143, a great issue that somehow manages to shoehorn both "Alien" and "Home Alone" into one plot. (It was also the final issue in John Bryne's great run on the title.) 

   

What to do onscreen with J.K. Rowling's 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'

It's already become the fastest-selling book of the year, so it's no surprise to hear that Warner Bros. is interested in making a movie out of J.K. Rowling's latest book, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," a collection of fables set in the (pre-"Harry Potter") world of wizards and muggles Rowling knows best.

The titular Beedle the Bard wrote five tales, each accompanied with commentary from Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts' now-late headmaster who met his end in the penultimate "Potter" novel, "The Half-Blood Prince."

For those, like myself, who've already zipped through the vignettes more than once, it's hard to imagine crafting a single movie out of any or all of them, however much we'd like to indulge in another big-screen adaptation of Rowling's magical characters. Each story exists separately from the other, and each averages 10 pages (in a double-spaced, large-font-ed-children's-book way).

Though the author packs "Tales" densely with the sort of attention to detail that brought the wizarding world -- with its quidditch, house elves, horcruxes, and dementors, etc. -- to life, each story is little more than a morality tale told in a few pages (spoilers start now): "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" warns against the evils of prejudice in a story about a wizard whose negligence of his neighboring muggles manifests into one horrid pest of a pot. "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" concerns a trio of sisters searching for a magical fountain to cure life's troubles, but find that the right attitude is the best cure. "The Warlock's Hairy Heart," which would surely frighten young children, tells the story of a literally heartless warlock whose vanity ends in tragedy. "The Tale of Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump" cautions against the disregard for the laws of magic. And "The Tale of the Three Brothers," Dumbledore's favorite of the five, teaches that trying to cheat death will always result in disappointment. Throughout, Dumbledore peppers the narratives with backstory, personal asides and a rather saucy sense of humor.

So what to do with the Bard's tales? How best to bring them to life? A few suggestions:

'Watchmen,' 'Twilight' and 'Tron' in Everyday Hero Headlines

"TURISTAS" REUNION IN "TRON": I'm not sure whether this is an alarming development, but the makers of the  "Tron" revival appear to be fans of "Turistas" -- how else should we interpret the fact that two of the female stars from that 2006 bikini bloodfest are the first announced cast for the sci-fi revamp? Borys Kit has this trades announcement story: "Olivia Wilde and Beau Garrett are the first to sign on for 'Tron 2.0,' the sequel to the 1982 Disney cult classic being directed by Joseph Kosinski. Sean Bailey is producing along with Steven Lisberger, who co-wrote and directed the original film, and Jeff Silver. The original, about a programmer thrust into a computer and forced to fight in games he helped create, is remembered for its sci-fi gladiator-style battles and groundbreaking special effects. The new movie is acting as a 'next chapter.' Plot details are being guarded closely, but Wilde will play a worker in the virtual world who tries to help fight Master Control Program, the villainous intelligence protocol that was the nemesis in the original film. Garrett will play a siren in the virtual world. The male lead has not been cast, but the studio and filmmakers are screen-testing actors as it brings on other leads and supporting players. 'Tron 2.0' is eyeing a spring shoot and is shaping up as one of the studio's most anticipated projects in years. Kosinski shot reels to test technology and showcase his vision for the film; the footage screened at Comic-Con in July and was one of the most buzzed-about films coming out of the geekfest." [Hollywood Reporter]...ALSO Read about 13 other upcoming remakes of sci-fi classic films right here.

"WATCHMEN" CASE STILL IN LIMBO: The court case regarding the rights to the film adaptation of "Watchmen" is still up in the air, according to an update from Times reporter John Horn: "A federal judge said Monday that he was unable to decide whether 20th Century Fox controls rights to the movie that Warner Bros. has produced and plans to release March 9, leaving open the possibility that the dispute between the studios could be tried on Jan. 20. U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess told lawyers for Fox and Warners that a series of 1990s contracts between Fox and 'Watchmen' producer Larry Gordon are so open to interpretation that he could not render a pre-trial judgment for either party, as the lawyers had requested. Fox sued Warners in February, arguing that Gordon -- who once ran Fox -- assigned Warners 'Watchmen' rights he didn't possess. Warners maintains that Fox holds no copyright on the movie, which is adapted by director Zack Snyder ('300') from the groundbreaking graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. [Los Angeles Times]

A "PHANTOM" MENACE?: You don't usually see a wire story about Aussie film producers acquiring the rights to a languishing property, especially if they have no casting announcement. But this came over the wire with a Sydney dateline, so here you go: "An Australian production company on Monday announced it had secured the rights to 'The Phantom Legacy,' a follow-up to the 1996 film, 'The Phantom,' which starred Billy Zane as the masked hero who fights evil from his jungle headquarters.The latest adaptation, which is expected to cost $87 million, will focus on 'the father/son relationship, and what it means to be the Phantom,” scriptwriter Tim Boyle said in a statement. 'The film will be set in the present day and will deal with the concept of destiny.' Producer Bruce Sherlock, who also served as executive producer of the first Phantom movie, said the new film will be a marked improvement over its predecessor, which received mixed reviews. 'It has the makings of a blockbuster,' Sherlock told The Associated Press. 'There's some surprises that will thrill the Phantom fans worldwide'...the Phantom began as a daily newspaper comic strip by Lee Falk in 1936. The protagonist -- alter ego Kit Walker -- is the 21st in a family of men who have passed the task of fighting injustice onto their sons. The first Phantom took the job to avenge his father's death at the hands of pirates." [Associated Press]

"TWILIGHT," TRANSLATED: There is some interesting Hollywood industry kabuki being staged in the naming of Chris Weitz as the director for the next "Twilight" film in place of the just-ousted Catherine Hardwicke. My favorite analysis so far is by columnist Patrick Goldstein who had this to say: "Chris is a talented writer-director and, having shepherded 'Golden Compass' to worldwide box-office success, clearly can handle the popularization of a franchise property. But what's fascinating, for the moment, is how Chris handled his first big assignment -- reaching out and reassuring 'Twilight' fans who were upset over Hardwicke's sudden departure, wanted a woman director to get the gig, or crave a absolutely faithful translation of the remaining books in the series, starting with 'New Moon,' which Summit hopes to have in theaters by the end of next year. So here are a few excerpts from what Chris said in his letter to fans -- and what it really means: What he said: 'In the past few days I have been involved in a whirlwind romance with Stephenie Meyer's  extraordinary books.' What it means: 'It's amazing how fast Amazon can rush an overnight shipment of books to your house.' What he said: 'I am very grateful to have received [Stephenie's] permission to protect 'New Moon' in its translation from the page to the screen.' What it means: 'I passed the audition.' What he said: 'For the last decade of my career as a director, I have chosen to make adaptations of complex and involved works of literature.' What it means: 'I barely remember being that smart-aleck brat who did all the semen jokes and sexist gags in 'American Pie.'' What he said: 'When I saw the film of 'Twilight' ... I was struck by the extraordinary passion for the characters, story and theme that was evident in the people sitting in the seats around me.' What it means: 'I saw the film in a real movie theater, not in my agent's screening room.' [The Big Picture blog, Los Angeles Times]

ON THIS DATE: Wow, what a day for science fiction. On this date in 1917, the futurist, inventor and author Arthur C. Clarke was born in Minehead, in the the southwest of England, the beginning of a 90-year life that would give the world "Childhood's End," "2001: A Space Odyssey" (co-written with Stanley Kubrick), "Rendezvous with Rama" and so many other slices of genius. Also on this date, in 1928, Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago but found a much more daunting life path ahead of him. The troubled writer died at age 52 but not before writing "Ubik," "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" "The Man in the High Castle" and "A Scanner Darkly." Also, British sci fi writer Kenneth Bulmer, author of more than 150 novels including the Dray Prescot series, died on this date in 2005 at age 84. To mark the day, let's all pick up a book and remember that science fiction doesn't begin and end on a movie screen.

-- Geoff Boucher

CREDITS: "Turistas" image courtesy of 20th Century Fox."Watchmen" image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Fanboy gift guide for 2008

In December of 1977, all I really wanted for Christmas was a lightsaber, just like the ones that the Jedi Knights used in "Star Wars." I did find one waiting for me under the tinsel-covered tree that year but, sadly, instead a fearsome weapon, it was a black flashlight with a flimsy plastic tube stuck on top. The disappointment, even for an 8-year-old, was a bitter one.

I'm guessing that the person who spent $240,000 at a Calabasas Hills auction last week to take home the lightsaber prop used by actor Mark Hamill in "Star Wars" possesses a similar childhood memory... and a much bigger bank account. But you don't need to be a millionaire these days to get your hands on quality fanboy treasures; we live in the golden era of gadgets and geeky totems and if you need the perfect gift for a fan of sci-fi or comics, well, I have the droids you're looking for.

R2-D2 aquarium: You have to ask yourself: What took someone so long to think of putting tropical fish inside of a sleek, 20-inch tall replica of everyone's favorite astromech droid from "Star Wars"? Hammacher Schlemmer has this beautiful bleeping fish tank for a mere $129.95, and it's more than just a barrel-shaped novelty: The domed head rotates upon verbal command, there's a built-in periscope to spy on your gourami and the LED lights morph change from red to blue to green. Now if they would just make a Boba Fett birdcage...

Captain Kirk's chair: Want to add command presence to your living room? Worried that the world doesn't know how passionate you are about Starfleet? Then this is the chance to take your home decor where no reasonable man has gone before. This $2,700 replica of Capt. Kirk's chair from the bridge of the USS Enterprise is part of a big push by CBS Consumer Products to sell more items related to the original show, from Enterprise-shaped golf putters to Mr. Spock PEZ dispensers. They say the chair will be on sale any day now, ready for any mission you or your green girlfriend can dream up. It will be on sale through Diamond Select Toys and, according to its makers, the deluxe swivel chair is built to last, makes numerous sound effects and even recites William Shatner's entire monologue from the original series. Put it in your den and set your neighbors on "stunned"...

"Battlestar Galactica" toaster: You can worry about the future of humanity but with this sleek ebony kitchen appliance you won't have to worry about burning your bread! The $65 toaster available at the Sci Fi store burns two messages into your breakfast slice: "Cylon" or the ever-delicate "Frak Off!" The toast tastes especially good with, ahem, Starbucks coffee.

Graphic novels: If you want to buy something a little less gimmicky, there are some great graphic novels on sale all major booksellers this holiday. For someone who enjoyed "The Dark Knight" film, try Brian Azzarello's grim and gruesome "Joker" (it's not for kids) or one of the many new re-issues of "Watchmen," which will be arriving in theaters in March, the nicest being the $75 "Absolute Edition Watchmen," which has be re-colored and comes with lavish packaging that pays homage to the 1986 landmark book. For something really unexpected, get "The Happy Warrior," ($38) on sale through Levenger, which collects the 1950s biography of Winston Churchill that ran in the weekly issues of Eagle Comics in the U.K., or "The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics," ($18) a hefty anthology with gritty gangster tales both vintage and modern.

'The Crow' remake, Frank Miller, Thor and 'Twilight' all in Everyday Hero headlines

As 'The Crow' flies: The director that drove Sean Connery to retirement and ensured that Alan Moore would never give Hollywood another chance wants to remake "The Crow." Reporter Michael Fleming has the announcement story in the trades: "Stephen Norrington has signed on to write and direct a reinvention of "The Crow," based on the comic created by James O’Barr. Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media is negotiating with producer Ed Pressman to acquire the film franchise and finance the film. Pressman produced the 1994 Alex Proyas-directed screen transfer, in which rock musician Eric Draven is murdered trying to rescue his girlfriend from thugs, and returns from the dead one year later to exact vengeance. Though the original became a gothic-style hit that grossed nearly $100 million worldwide, it is primarily remembered for a tragic accident in which star Brandon Lee was killed during filming. For Norrington, the "Crow" deal marks the end of a long screen sabbatical. After making his breakthrough with the Marvel Comics hero "Blade," Norrington took on a big-budget comic transfer with "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Neither the director nor his star, Sean Connery, has made a film since. Norrington said he felt demoralized by that experience, and the accomplished sculptor spent the next five years writing and working on his art. He made a deal to direct "Clash of the Titans" for Warner Bros., but left the project, he said, because he was "unable to excite Warner Bros. with my take, or influence the screenplay to any comfortable extent...." "Whereas Proyas’ original was gloriously gothic and stylized, the new movie will be realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style," Norrington told Daily Variety. [Variety]

'Wolverine' trailer: Well, 2009 is looking pretty fantastic for film-going fanboys.  "Watchmen" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," not to mention "Terminator Salvation." Oh, and just in case you were worried that "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" might be as sluggish and uninvolving as the third "X-Men" film, the trailer above should inspire some major mutant optimism.   

Sinners and Spartans: Comics icon and newly minted filmmaker Frank Miller is getting ready for this Wednesday night's premiere of "The Spirit" in Los Angeles but he answered (kinda) some questions from Edward Douglas about the next step in the cinematic life of "300" and "Sin City." Douglas writes: "With a lot of rumors swirling about a potential sequel or prequel to Zack Snyder's '300,' which was based on a standalone graphic novel, some have wondered how involved Miller would be, and if he might write or draw another graphic novel based on the subject matter as basis for another movie. 'I've written a story that's not a prequel,' he told us. 'It's definitely a further story in the Greco-Persian Wars, and it involves some of the same characters but I'm not sure exactly how far along it'll get and again, until it's on a marquee, I don't believe in it.' And as far as whether Miller might co-direct [a second 'Sin City' film] with Robert Rodriguez again or direct himself, now that he has 'The Spirit' under his belt: 'I hope to work with Robert. We're talking it over and trying to work out the mechanics of actually getting it made. It's always tricky with movies. I believe that a movie's going to come out as soon as I see its name on a marquee.' 'I'll publish something,' he hinted with a smile, when asked whether there might be a 'Sin City' or '300' comic or graphic novel out before either movie." [Superhero Hype]

Spirited debate: Speaking of Miller, one of the early fanboy-press reviews of "The Spirit" is in and says the film has replaced "Battlefield Earth" as the worst movie ever made. [Ain't it Cool News] ... I've seen the film myself and I don't think it's "Battlefield" bad -- it has too many stylish aspirations -- but I can say that in his attempt to make a film into a comic book (as opposed to, say, "300," which vividly turned a comic book into a film) Miller's produced a tone-jarring movie that isn't always sure what it wants to be. I think Miller has an incredible visual flair and his sensibility has made him the most important comic book artist of the past 25 years, but I don't know if mainstream moviegoers are going to know what to make of "The Spirit."

Hammer time: Actor-director Kenneth Branagh has opened up a bit about his plans for a certain Norse god. Here's his conversation with MTV from a junket for "Valkyrie": "I am directing 'Thor,' or 'The Mighty Thor' as you might like to call it," he said with a smile before clarifying what the title of the film will be. 'I think it will be 'Thor.' " ... So what’s the appeal of 'Thor,' Kenneth? "To work on a story about one of the immortals, Gods, extraordinary beings, inter-dimensional creatures," he enthused. He continued excitedly, "There’s science fiction and science fact and fantasy all woven into one. It’s based on Norse legends which Marvel sort of raided in a brilliant way." So who will play Branagh’s hero? Asked about the rumors of Kevin McKidd being up for the role, the director waved it off as premature speculation. "There’s been lots of talk [about casting] — I sound like a politician — but we are too early at this stage. We’re getting the story and the visual effects together and all of that is very exciting. Someone sensational is going to play the part but it is early days." Just because Branagh hasn’t worked on a project of this scale since 'Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,' fear not. This 'Thor' promises to be as large as the character would seem to call out for. "It’s a chance to tell a big story on a big scale," said Branagh. "It’s a human story right in the center of a big epic scenario." [MTV]

'Twilight' reconsidered: Are too many "Twilight" fans up past their bedtime? Sonja Bolle, who writes a monthly column called Word Play for the Los Angeles Times books pages, says that many of the hot and bothered fans of the books (and the movie) are too young to be, well, hot and bothered. She writes: "When a tide of popularity rises, it erases all boundaries. The first sign that 'Twilight' was a pop-culture phenomenon was that teen girls who hadn't talked to their parents in years were dressing up with their mothers in vampire costumes and attending midnight book parties together. By last summer, when the marketing for the fourth and ostensibly final book in the series reached the proportions of hysteria (and that was a mild dress rehearsal for the movie release), it had become de rigueur for any self-respecting female reader of any age to read the books. Not only to read them, but to swoon over them, to be overwhelmed by them; to find, as 10-year-old Lyla Polon of Santa Monica wrote, 'It's hard for me to face the fact that [the characters] are not real.' Much as I like the novels -- and I devoured all of them happily -- I'm appalled to find that a sizable number of the 25 million copies now in print are going into the hands of 10-year-olds. Why would parents whose children are not yet obsessed with sex encourage their kids to read books that are one long, bodice-ripping romance?" [Word Play, Los Angeles Times]

ON THIS DATE: Kurt Schaffenberger was born on this day in 1920 in Germany and would go on to be one of the enduring comic-book artists of his generation, working on the Captain Marvel titles at Fawcett before jumping over to DC, where he brought his high-clarity style to Superman-related titles, most notably "Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane." He died in 2002.... Today is also the 45th birthday of Helen Slater, who starred in "Supergirl" on the silver screen.... Comics writer (and television writer and musician) J. M. DeMatteis is 55 today and has tall of stack of funny-book accomplishments, among them "Moonshadow," "Brooklyn Dreams" and memorable runs on Spider-Man, Captain America and  Justice League International.... Julie Taymor, the Tony-winning Broadway director now at work on "Spider-Man: The Musical," is 56 today. To celebrate, let's all think super thoughts and sing a song in public today.

-- Geoff Boucher

Credits: Brandon Lee as "The Crow,"  Miramax Films and the Los Angeles Times archives; Frank Miller's Spartans from "300,"  Dark Horse Comics; "Twilight" image, Summit Pictures.

'Star Wars' on stage, 'Twilight' and 'Near Dark' all in Everyday Hero headlines

Welcome to a chilly weekend edition of Everyday Hero, your roundup of handpicked headlines from around the fanboy universe...

"Star Wars," conducted: What possible new frontier could be left for George Lucas and his three-decade-old space fantasy epic? Well, going loud and live with orchestral power might do the trick. Jack Malvern has the story in the U.K.: "Lucasfilm has authorised 'Star Wars: A Musical Journey,' a retelling of the story that will combine excerpts of the film with live orchestral accompaniment. Diehard fans may dream of Jedi Knights serenading Jabba the Hutt and C-3PO singing 'Don’t cry for me, R2-D2' but they are likely to be disappointed. Producers for the show, which will have its world premiere in Britain, emphasised that although actors would be used to narrate the story, it would not be a stage musical. The production, which condenses more than 13 hours of film into 90 minutes, will be more like a classical music concert performed in front of a cinema screen, 27m (90ft) wide. The audience at the 17,000-seat O2 Arena in southeast London will watch key scenes from the film as 86 musicians from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra play extracts from John Williams’s score. The composer has reworked the music for the show, which will take place on April 10. Other shows may follow, depending on demand. Another Planet, the company that is producing the show, said that the biggest challenge faced by Lucasfilm was condensing the footage so that the story remained intelligible. Spencer Churchill, a producer, said that the running order of the scenes was still being finalised. 'We’ve worked out most of it,' he said. 'We originally thought it would be a chronological telling of the six films . . . but it is not as precise as that.' He declined to say which scenes had been cut, but insisted that most fans’ favourite moments had been preserved. 'Because there is so much to choose from there will be Star Wars fans out there who will say, ‘How come that wasn’t in there?’ But overall I think Lucasfilm has done a brilliant job.' " [Times of London]...ALSO: I did a story on the show's producer, Another Planet, back in 2003 when the San Francisco company launched as a maverick force in the concert industry. You can read that story here.

Not the droids you're looking for: Ah, what's better than debating a photo gallery "best of" list? The staff over at Entertainment Weekly have handed us a doozy with the gallery called "The Sci-Fi 25: The Genre's Best Since 1982" which is a combo list of television shows and films. Given the parameters, the EW list is for the most part quite good, and has some nice inclusions such as "Brazil" and "V," the great 1983 NBC mini-series. My knee-jerk top four -- 1. "Blade Runner," 2. the re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica," 3. "The X-Files," and 4. "The Matrix" -- ended up being their top four as well (albeit in a completely different order) so it's hard to complain about that. But I think they put "Star Trek: The Next Generation" too low at No. 8; the show has been gone for a while now but let's not forget how truly great (and game-changing) that series was at its peak. I am also a big fan of "Children of Men," and it would be much higher than No. 14 on my list. I also seem to be the only person in the world who finds no charm left in "Back to the Future," which would not make my Top 30 much less than land at No. 12, as it did on the EW list. Some of the other EW choices are just silly or, more likely, purposely provocative. I mean, "Futurama," "Starship Troopers" and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (the 2003-05 series) all make it in a Top 25 that has no room for "Twelve Monkeys," "War of the Worlds," "A Scanner Darkly," "Independence Day," "Jurassic Park," "The Fifth Element," "Predator," "Men in Black," "RoboCop," "Return of the Jedi," "Artificial Intelligence: A.I." or "Minority Report"? Come on, seriously? Wow. If "Futurama" and "Clone Wars" were included to give representation to animation, why not  go instead with the landmark films "WALL-E," "The Iron Giant" or "Akira"? Looking at the list, I'd also argue that it's artificially heavy on television entries (11 in total). Does "Heroes," which was not that great for that long, really doesn't deserve its spot on the EW list ahead of those films I mentioned above? Ok, I'm ready: Tell me how wrong I am and how right you are. That is, after all, half the fun of making these lists, right?

Next "Twilight" director named: One of our Hero Complex contributors, Patrick Kevin Day, has an update on the "Twilight" franchise. "It's official: Chris Weitz is taking over the director's chair for the 'Twilight' sequel 'New Moon.' 'Twilight' author Stephenie Meyer confirmed the news on her official website Saturday morning in a post designed to calm the rising anguish among fans who loved the first film adaptation. After bidding a fond farewell to 'Twilight' director Catherine Hardwicke, Meyer went on to praise Weitz and to let fans know that 'torches and pitchforks are not going to be necessary.' On the one hand, Weitz has shown his skill at adapting popular modern novels for the screen -- 'About a Boy,' from the Nick Hornby novel, won Weitz and co-scripters Paul Weitz and Peter Hedges an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay. On the other hand, Weitz also directed last year's 'The Golden Compass,' which was an expensive mess that failed to capture the fan base of the books. Weitz seems to be very aware of the tricky situation he's stepping into and does his best to let fans know that he's no dummy when it comes to making sure he gives them what they want to see. 'I promise to remain responsive to your hopes and fears,' he writes in a letter that Meyer includes in her post." [Entertainment News and Buzz blog, Los Angeles Times]

Sucking the life out of "Near Dark": Remember when cynical observers said "True Blood" was too similar to "Twilight"? It looks like the backers of another vampire project, a remake of Kathryn Bigelow's "Near Dark," are closing the coffin on their plans because they fear the same critique. Producer Brad Fuller explains to reporter Chris Hewitt: "'Near Dark' is probably not going to happen....I think that 'Twilight' was the same type of thing we were going for, although 'Near Dark' was a much darker, sexier, rated-R version of that. But I’m concerned that, conceptually, that 'Near Dark' and 'Twilight' are too similar in terms of a vampire movie. For now, that movie is on hold.' Now here’s something new –- usually, when a movie is a surprise hit, you can’t move in Hollywood without bumping into a similar project designed to cash in. It’s not often when the opposite occurs, and a hit movie causes another in development to stall. But that seems to be the case with the remake of Bigelow’s 1987 vampire western, in which a young farmer (Adrian Pasdar) falls in love with a girl (Jenny Wright), only to find that she’s part of a family of utterly demented vampires, played by half the cast of 'Aliens.' 'The concept of "one person’s a vampire, the other person isn’t and they’re in love," with the success of that film, we would not measure up,' continued Fuller. 'It’s not the right time to make that.' " [Empire]

An illegal Verne venture: Here's a true-crime tale with a bit of a sci-fi flavor. In Columbia, the man they call Captain Nemo is behind bars; Los Angeles Times writer Chris Kraul reports from Tumaco: "Squat, bull-necked and sullen-looking, Enrique Portocarrero hardly seems a dashing character out of a Jules Verne science fiction novel. But law enforcement officers here have dubbed him 'Captain Nemo,' after the dark genius of '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.' They say the 45-year-old has designed and built as many as 20 fiberglass submarines, strange vessels with the look of sea creatures, for drug traffickers to haul cocaine from this area of southern Colombia to Central America and Mexico. Administrative Security officials allege that Portocarrero helped invent 'semi-submersibles,' as the narco-vessels are called, because they don't dive and resurface like true submarines, but cruise just below the surface...Portocarrero's craft are difficult for counter-narcotics officials to detect on the open seas because their tiny wake creates a negligible radar 'footprint.' Also, authorities say, the exhaust is released through tubing below the surface, frustrating patrol aircraft's heat-sensing equipment. 'He knew the rudiments of boat design, but probably had help from a naval engineer along the way,' Borrero said. Portocarrero developed a signature design, police say: a sleek V-shaped hull; a sturdy keel, which is the boat's backbone; and an exhaust system that makes the boat look like a monster from the deep." [Los Angeles Times]

ON THIS DATE: Lee Remick was born on this day in Quincy, Mass., in 1935 and would go to a long and distinguished career (she was in the sublime "Face in the Crowd" as well as "Anatomy of a Murder," two of my faves), but the late actress will forever be best known to genre fans for her role in the oh-so-creepy 1976 classic "The Omen".... Also, 532 years ago this month, Vlad III the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia, died although his name still remains alive (or, um, undead?) because he inspired Bram Stoker's signature character, Dracula... Also, on this day in 1999, Charles M. Schulz announced his retirement from the most famous comics strip of them all, "Peanuts"....So with a nod to history, let's all go out today and buy a scraggly Christmas tree while keeping our eye open for dark magic.

-- Geoff Boucher

Credits: "Star Wars" image courtesy of Lucasfilm. Chris Weitz photo courtesy of Rahav Segev/For The Times. "Near Dark" image courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment. Chris Kraul/Los Angeles Times took the photograph of a Columbian navy official inside the seized narco-submersible. Portrait of Vlad III, circa 1560, by unknown artist.

Visiting 'Dexter's' laboratory

I've been a devoted fan of the Showtime series "Dexter" since Day One, but I had some misgivings about this season and its indelicate plot plans: Dexter is a father-to-be, Dexter is getting married, Dexter gets a best friend -- for a show that has been so adept in its scalpel moments, I fretted that too many blunt objects were being brought down on the story arc of my favorite vigilante sociopath.

So as I watched the season's penultimate episode last week I smiled and shook my head. They did it again. The cruel complications of Dexter Morgan's life have played out with all the usual nuance and, like the blood splatters he studies during his day job (and creates during his night job), it all looks like art when you take a few steps back.

The season finale is this Sunday and Dexter will have his wedding day -- but his first choice for his best man, Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits), won't be there, I'm guessing, because he was drugged, abducted and garroted by the groom on last week's episode. Wedding planning can be such stressful business.

One of my colleagues at the Los Angeles Times, Maria Elena Fernandez, has a great feature on the show in today's paper and talked to the stars, among them the relentlessly good title actor, Michael C. Hall. Here's an excerpt:

On the verge of becoming a husband and father, after three intimate dances in which he revealed his innermost secrets to other people, the question Dexter introduced in the pilot lingers: Is Dexter capable of loving? Dexter confessed then that he has no feelings, but that if he were to love someone, it would be his sister, Deb (Jennifer Carpenter). Just before he killed Miguel this season, Dexter declared impassively, "I don't get to have friends."

Do we believe him?

"I don't know that Dexter is the most reliable narrator," Hall said by telephone. "I don't know that he was at the beginning of the show, and I don't know that he is now. I think he tries things on and plays at being a human being. I do think there's an appetite for connection and revelation in Dexter that he doesn't consciously acknowledge. But that motivates a lot of his behavior."