The Eisner Award-nominated and three-time Harvey Award-nominated Son of a Genius returns in Franklin Richards: Happy Franksgiving! Special.

This all-new Franklin special by Marc Sumerak and Chris Eliopoulos features five more exciting adventures of the precocious son of Reed and Sue Richards, one half of the Fantastic Four.  It’s five times the fun as Franklin pushes his robotic baby-sitter and sidekick H.E.R.B.I.E. to his cybernetic limits.

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Moonstone Books has sent us cover images and solicitation information for titles shipping February 2007.

KOLCHAK TALES: THE FRANKENSTEIN AGENDA #2 (OF 3)
Story: David Michelinie,
Art: Don Hudson,
Cover: Bob Layton
32 PAGES, $3.50, COLOR

This pulse-pounding three-issue monthly miniseries reunites the classic fan-favorite 1980’s Iron Man creative team, written by David Michelinie and covers illustrated by Bob Layton!

The military wants very much to contain… and eliminate… a situation up in the Oregon woods. And Carl Kolchak is right in the middle!

But when that “situation” is a creature genetically engineered for deep-space survival of their own creation, what other drastic measures…and creations… are they willing to unleash to silence everyone once and for all?

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The San Diego Comic-Con website has been update with a list of the first wave of special guests that will appear at the show next summer.  Among them are Neil Gaiman, Adam Hughes, Scott Kurtz and more.

Once again, Comic-Con is looking ahead to the coming year and special anniversaries to celebrate both in programming and our annual Souvenir Book. 2007 marks the 100th birthday of Hergé, the creator of Tintin, one of the most beloved comics characters in the world. It’s also the 25th anniversary of 2 indy comics stalwarts, Groo (created by Sergio Aragonés and aided and abetted by Mark Evanier) and Love and Rockets, created by Los Bros Hernandez. More anniversaries and themes and special guests will be added as we work towards the event.

I for one hope to be able to make it to the 2007 convention, as SNAFUs and sheduling conflicts prevented The Chort and me from attending in 2006.

via San Diego Comic-Con (link)

Variety has confirmed what we reported on months ago - Terrence Howard will play Tony Stark’s buddy Jim Rhodes in the upcoming Iron Man movie.

It’s pretty much accepted that, unless Iron Man turns into a huge bomb in the box office, the franchise and sequel potential is very high. In the comic Jim Rhodes takes over the helm of Iron Man when Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) takes some time off and eventually evolves into the character War Machine.

“The suit is purely an innovative creation, so this is Marvel meets Tom Clancy technology,” Marvel Studios production president Kevin Feige said. “Having the best actors for the key roles allows them to inhabit the hyperkinetic reality of this world.”

I’m still on the fence on casting for this film, but if Marvel, Jon Favreau, and the fan boy community are excited about these announcements, then I’ll eventually come around.

What do you think? Talk about it in the Major Spoilers Forum.

This fall, Dark Horse announced a new contest for Direct Market retailers. The Dark Horse 100 program rewards 10 lucky comic shops with 100 variant cover comics exclusively available through this promotion. Dark Horse received an overwhelming response from retailers, with entries totaling near 1,000! The following ten stores were chosen at random to receive 100 alternate cover copies of the upcoming Star Wars Dark Times debut issue for free. All issues, regular and alternate cover copies, are expected to arrive in stores by the first week of November.

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Variety is reporting that the Sci-Fi channel has greenlit Stan Lee’s Who Wants to be a Superhero reality show for another season.  Season two will be made up of 10 episodes with Pow! Entertainment and Bruce Nash Entertainment executive producing the show.

I don’t know about you, but I remember the “good ol’ days” when a season’s worth of shows amounted to more than a measly 10 episodes.  Remember the days of 32 episodes a season?  Can you image how the ratings of Blade: The Series, Entourage, Smallville, and even Deadwood would be if there were 32 weeks of goodness instead of the five weeks of new stuff, eight weeks off, three weeks of new stuff, three weeks off crap that we have to put up with now?  Granted, I don’t want to see 32 weeks of Who Wants to be a Superhero, but come on…10 eps makes a season now?

via Variety (link)

The week of goodness continues.  Today I’m pleased to introduce Major Spoilers Forums.  Simply register, and begin posting!  Of course you can still post comments on individual stories, but this is another option for you to become involved in the site.

Right now, there are only a few forums active.  If you see a forum you would like created, contact me directly, and I’ll get it up.

I told you this week would be one of reviews and announcements. Please join me in welcoming Matthew Peterson to the Major Spoilers writing staff. I have known Matt for nearly 20 years, when we met on our first day of college. Matt is a brilliant writer, and has an amazing memory when it comes to all things comic. He first got me interested in Legion of Superheroes with his amazing ability to recall characters, events, and storylines for the twenty or so years prior. This of course was back in the days before Zero Hour when many of the LoSh-ers were getting long in the tooth.

Matthew will be contributing on a regular basis by writing reviews on a variety of titles. His first outing is a review of Ultimates 2 #12, which you can read below.

Once again, welcome Matthew!

Hey everybody!  I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know I won’t be updating the site much between now and Monday.  My sister is getting married this weekend, so I’ll be busy with that, popping in and out.  I will get the Heroes review up (probably after the next episode), a 52 review will be up by end of day Sunday, and I have a few surprises to announce next week!

Hey come on - if I’m going to say something about a wedding, what picture would you use?  Reed and Sue’s marriage? Nope…

Ghost Rider’s path of vengeance leads him to the starling revelation that he is part of Lucifer’s plan to consolidate his power on earth in Ghost Rider #4.  Can he ever truly defeat Lucifer if he is just a pawn on the chessboard?

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Lee Benaka had time this weekend to head to the Baltimore Con and sent this report.

Good afternoon! I just got back from Baltimore, where my son and I ended up having a great time despite an inauspicious beginning where the Convention Center was evacuated within 10 minutes of us arriving. That was OK, because it was about lunchtime anyway. After some sushi, we made it back in, and I was delighted to see the swirl of activity at the booth where Ron Wilson and Keith Pollard were sitting. Jeff Jaworski was working up a sweat handling art sales and keeping the commission lists straight. Keith had what looked like his entire family with him, and I hope they were having a good time. I got to say hi to Ron, and he seemed like a very nice gentleman. It was a treat to see John Romita Jr. give Ron a hug. They obviously had not seen each other in a while. I imagine it was somewhat like old home week for Keith and Ron. I left a sketchbook with Jeff in hopes of getting a Thing head sketch when things calmed down a bit for Ron.

My son and I managed to get some great sketches from some very kind artists, including John Snyder (who always draws very sharp “minimalist” superhero sketches and is very pleasant to chat with); Norman Lee (who was super-nice to my boy, even giving him a free Marvel Adventures comic); Neil Vokes (who drew a fantastic Mr. Fantastic); Mike Hawthorn (always great to see and a real talent); Andy Runton (who had some great Owly t-shirts and plushes for sale); and an artist I had never met before (last name Neeley, I think, another really nice fellow) who drew Smurfette for my daughter.

I didn’t get to chat enough with folks at the show, but it was nice to at least say hi quickly to Philip Churchill, Will Gabri-El, Jim Warden, and Michael Lovitz. I wish I had made time to say howdy to Chuck Costas and Mike Burkey, who I saw talking to other folks, but there was just too much to do and take in. So hi, guys! I hope everyone else is having or had a great time in Baltimore.

Major Spoilers has obtained the list of the 2006 Harvey Award winners, announced Saturday night at the Baltimore Convention.  Congratulations to all.

The 2006 Harvey Award Winners

Best Letterer: Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #18
Best Colorist: Laura Martin, Astonishing X-Men
Best Syndicated Strip of Panel: Maakies by Tony Millionaire
Best Inker: Charles Burns, Black Hole #12
Best Online Comics Work: American Elf by James Kochalka
Best American Edition of Foreign Material: Buddha published by Vertical Books
Best New Series: Young Avengers
Best Graphic Album – Previously Published: Black Hole published by Pantheon Books
Special Award for Humor in Comics: Kyle Baker, for Plastic Man
Best New Talent: (tie) R. Kikuo Johnson/Night Fisher; Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa/Marvel Knights Fantastic Four
Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistc Presentation: The Comics Journal
Best Anthology: Solo, DC Comics
Best Domestic Reprint Project: Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays
Best Cover Artist: James Jean, Fables
Special Award for Excellence in Presentation: Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays
Best Graphic Album – Original: Tricked by Alex Robinson
Best Continuing or Limited Series: Runaways, Marvel Comics
Best Cartoonist: Chris Ware
Best Writer: Ed Brubaker
Best Artist: JH Williams III
Best Single Issue of Story: Love and Rockets, Volume 2 #15

Writer/artist Lea Hernandez who has worked on Rumble Girls, Cathedral Child, and Transmetropolitan to name a few suffered a major loss when her house caught fire today. Long time friend Gail Simone asks fans for support.

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Diamond Comics Distributors has released the Market Share for products shipped in July, 2006.

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As we reported previously, NBC is doing some very different things to promote their new Fall line up. Heroes being somewhat comic related is one such show. Now you can see it for free on iTunes beginning September 1, 2006.

(press release) NBC’s marketing in the digital arena takes a new turn as the network expands its corporate partnerships with National CineMedia, Nissan and Apple’s iTunes to cross-promote its new Fall drama “Heroes” by finding new ways to incorporate the products into scripts organically and offering consumers the chance to be the first to see the series.

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