If we had to guess, we’d imagine that when actor-musician-model Tyrese Gibson wanted to join the infectiously lively world of graphic novels, he wasn’t aware that part of this world is nitpicking bloggers, commentators and message board fans who fact check every utterance. But in a long interview at CBR, he and collaborator Mike Le address some of the complaints over quotes and talk about the future of MAYHEM. Specifically, Gibson refutes previously quoted claims that MAYHEM was the first comic for iTunes, which, as we all know, isn’t so.

Tyrese: That’s a misquote. The reporter misunderstood what I said. What I said and what I meant was this is the first time in history that Apple has teamed up with a creator to develop a digital comic book for iTunes. I know there have been many digital comic books way before “Mayhem,” and I am aware of other digital comic books that have been sold on iTunes.

In another quote, Gibson shows he understands multichannel delivery:

Tyrese: Let me say this, I strongly hope the digital sales drive consumers to discover comic books, which then drives them to their local comic book stores to buy more comic books. Digital comic books do not have to mean the death of printed comic books. I believe they can co-exist and help each other thrive. In this recession, anything that can help bring more traffic to comic book stores is a blessing.

Over the summer watching the MAYHEM experiment was vastly entertaining, and it’s safe to say the program had some pluses, but also pissed off a lot of people with, to put it mildly, over-aggressive marketing tactics. The bottom line is that quality was not one of the big selling points of the project, unfortunately, and what really fuels repeat business is a good story. However, it’s good to see Tyrese & Co. addressing some of the issues they raised. And their teaming with Apple is part of the Jobs Crew’s greater recognition that comics are a major part of the future business model for digital downloads.

Somewhat related: for the first time book app downloads have surpassed game app downloads for the iPhone:

In October, one out of every five new apps launching in the iPhone has been a book. Book publishers from Your Mobile Apps to Softbank are adapting books for sale in the AppStore at record rates. Flurry believes that Apple is poised to take market share from the Amazon Kindle in eBooks, in spite of the iPhone’s smaller four-inch display compared to the Kindle’s six-inch display. If Apple is actually working on a larger tablet, as rumored, it could steal even more market share.

Hurry Tablet!!!

ICv2 has a full report on an appearance by internationally acclaimed author Salman Rushdie (shown above with his ex, Padma Lakshmi) proclaiming his interest in writing a graphic novel on the Craig Ferguson Show.

Rushdie answered, “Yeah, and actually I got asked recently if I’d like to write a graphic novel. I was kind of keen on it. When I was a kid I was a real comic book nut. I could tell you a lot about superheroes.”

Rushdie then launched into a discussion of Aquaman and segued into Kryptonite, muffing the difference between Green and Red Kryptonite after bragging that he knew what they were. But he circled back to the graphic novel concept and wrapped up with, “So I’m quite attracted to the idea of a graphic novel. I might have a go.”

Okay we get it…comics are cool now! In theory we like the idea of a Rushdie-penned issue of Red Tornado–especially if it dealt with the inner life of Ma Hunkel–but many of these celebrity comics writers are turning in stuff that is generally inferior in construction to the average Ed Brubaker issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA. So study up, people! Pow! Smash! Writing comics isn’t just for kicks!

Hm, Let’s see, FMB is in Blighty for BICS*, so maybe it’s time to sneak a peak at some…old friends.

Whatever happened to dear, dear Gerard Butler, we hear you asking? Well, aside from being linked to all kinds of Hollywood hotties, and scuffling with seniors at the dog park, he’s also starring in about seventeen movies this year.

The latest is called LAW ABIDING CITIZEN, and if the above still is to be believed, it is a welcome return to, er, form, even if he does need to buy a belt. It’s also a change of pace, he told Geoff Boucher, as he’s playing a bad guy.

He’s a crazed vigilante bent on taking down the entire legal system.

Yeah, baby! Tear it down! He’s also hosting Saturday Night Live in a few weeks. Odds of a joke involving Spartans: 3-1.

And what of Clive Owen? It seems he’s talking SIN CITY 2. It might be starting production next year! Not that old saw again!

“I’m hearing it might be next year,” Owen told MTV News. “I heard that from a very good source… recently.”

However, Owen wouldn’t reveal where he heard the news (”Maybe one of them,” he grinned, when asked if it was Miller or Rodriguez), and he didn’t let fans’ hopes get too carried away. According to the actor, he hasn’t read a script for the film yet.

More astonishingly, Clive was also recently spotted at FMB’s favorite bar on earth, Nevada Smiths, talking to the New Yorker. And it happened to be the one day FMB wasn’t there!!!

It was four-fifteen on a Tuesday. Owen was drinking a rum-and-coke, and he wore a black suit and a white cotton shirt, open at the collar. On the screen, his neck seems a little thick—a fullback’s physique—but in person he resembles a lean, eager midfielder.

A midfielder? Like Ashley Young?**

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! Both Clive and Gerard were recently spotted in the same room talking to Bono and Jon Bon Jovi!!! What could they have talked about? Maybe something like this: “I miss Heidi’s posts.” “Aye, me too.”

FINALLY: These girls have all the proof you need that Clive and Gerard are just about the SAME PERSON.

It took all our will power not to show the side-by-side comparison of DDGB and CO snogging Angelina Jolie, but for that….you must click the link.

This concludes our broadcast day.

(more…)

The Daily News talks to Tyrese Gibson, whose MAYHEM comic goes on sale today:

Gibson has been trolling the Internet, reading the harshest criticism and vowing to convince naysayers that he isn’t some celebrity dilettante dabbling in a get-rich-quick scheme.

He gets so worked up during his interview with The News that he refers to his hero, a tortured soul looking to torture the drug- dealing mob boss that wronged him, in the first person several times.

He’s not just trying to woo existing comic fans, either. Gibson says he is serious about getting the word out to fans of his movies that have never set foot in a comic store that there’s a larger world of pop culture that they’ve been missing.

The big event is at LA’s Meltdown, where Gibson will perform a signing and a concert tonight for wristband holders. Let us know how it went!

To the list of hardest-working celebs in comics (Rosario Dawson, Milo Ventimiglia) the name Tyrese Gibson must be added. With MAYHEM — co-created by Mike Le and Will Wilson, and artist Tone Rodriguez — coming out from Image in August. As the co-star of the record smashing TRANSFORMERS 2, how did Gibson spend the opening weekend? Why, Twittering endlessly about his new comic. And (although we’re not sure, but probably well before the FOC date) he even came up with a direct-to-the-consumer marketing campaign, urging his 180,000+ followers to call their local comics shops to get them to order more copies of MAYHEM. He even Twittered the shops’ phone numbers. And seemingly, some fans obeyed the call. We don’t have time to reverse the Twitter order, but here’s a sampling:

# It’s STANDARD in the comic book industry to ORDER ONLY 2 or 3 copies I think it’s PURE B.S!! PRE-ORDER 400 and Make your CUSTOMERS aware go!
#
Joe phone isn’t picking up .. I wonder why..!! To ALL Comic shop Owners and RETAIL this is NO JOKE MAYHEM is a MOVEMENT JOIN IN!!!

#
Everyone Calling NOW!! @wallstmnymgr he just said no one is calling

#
This is exactly why YOUR the greatest!! Thank you!! @JQuezBoxing I Just PreOrdered 5 Copies Of MAYHEM In Vegas

#
@LaurenDayMakeup If a Comic Book store doesnt know wht Mayhem is by now they have living under a rock #Mayhem is going 2 be the BEST COMIC!
#
@Bartosz1991 How about London? We want MAYHEM!!!!!! LONDON LOVES YOU!!! Plenty of London Comic Shops call Forbidden Planet

All of this in between mourning Michael Jackson, partying with P.Diddy and the other commitments of the busy movie star. It’s certainly a real commitment to his own comic, and, who knows, better advertising than most books get these days. Perhaps a follow-up call to some of those shops is in order to see if the stumping had any effect.

Who knows, maybe Tyrese is the new marketing guru of comics.

Via actor Ted Raimi’s Twitter feed, another Green Pants moment:

@ Wizard Word convention in Philly. Thousands of fans here.12:01 PM Jun 19th from Tweetie

Completely lost at con. Cannot find the green room. I’m screwed.12:03

Waiting to be met by con employee. Hiding behind pillar. One fan asked if I was hiding from him. Said I didn’t know him.12:10

Convention is fantastic. One trillion comic books here. http://bit.ly/PlJJg http://yfrog.com/0v12nlj 12:28 PM

At Hand Drawn Noodle House. What is a “shaved noodle”? http://yfrog.com/10v9xkj 7:21 PM

Didn’t eat here http://yfrog.com/5hr9thj 8:07 PM

Took tons of questions with my friend Michael Papajohn from fans at con. He’s hysterical. http://yfrog.com/5fs5bej 7:21 PM

All day posed for fans. Made fans pose for me! Ha! Taste O’ the ole’ medicine. http://yfrog.com/3oz6hj 7:23 PM

Exhausted. Hiding in hotel room from fans. Secretly? Saw an enormous room full of D&D players today.Looked really cool. Want to play now. 7:31 PM

Had a drink with Wizardcon extrordiaire Spat. Did a gag photo with him for Wizard mag. How can you not like a guy like that? 8:41 PM

Home to LA. Philly industy looks like interplanetary colonization units. http://bit.ly/ifdZH http://yfrog.com/07g19vj 6:07 AM

Megan Fox is thinking about dressing as Slave Girl Leia at Comic-Con.

San Diego might explode.

Although anxious fanboys are always dreaming up new superheroines for comely Megan Fox to star as, it seems that Wonder Woman won’t be one of them, no matter how much Fox is rumored to be in the running for the long gestating film. She boldly told the Times Online:

“Wonder Woman is a lame superhero,” she says, clearly unfazed at the thought of ruling herself out of a potentially career-making franchise. “She flies around in her invisible jet and her weaponry is a lasso that makes you tell the truth. I just don’t get it. Somebody has a big challenge on their hands whoever takes that role but I don’t want to do it.”

Sob. Say it ain’t so, Megan. Luckily, comic book media will have plenty to keep ourselves busy with Fox’s role in the upcoming JONAH HEX movie and the starring role in a planned FATHOM film.

This story from the Daily Mail would have you believe that Zack Quinto is one of those people who can’t make the Vulcan salute, and he had to have his fingers glued together when essaying the gesture during filming of the new Star Trek movie. (Quinto plays young Spock — does he ever.) While it’s a great story, the truthfulness of it is somewhat undercut by the photos accompanying it which show Quinto making the gesture just fine. So…what is going on here??? We need answers…and fast.

Among its many interviews with nerdlebrities enamored of the wonderful world of comics, MTV’s Splash Page caught up with James Marsters, formerly of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, who had his run-in with comics writing TEN years ago. But the experience was so traumatizing that his resentment has simmered to this day, eclipsing such things as Smallville, Torchwood, and DRAGONBALL: EVOLUTION…

“I thought that if I wrote a comic, I’d have ultimate power over everything,” said Marsters. “It was a rude awakening to find out how little power writers have.”

The real bone of contention was with Dark Horse’s choice of artist Ryan Sook, who drew everything in a dark, gothic style that, while he liked the art, Marsters insists just wasn’t right for his story.

The actor goes on at some length to vent about Sook’s unseemliness..,so long, in fact that Dark Horse felt compelled to respond: explaining that it was Buffy omnilord Joss Whedon himself who approved Sook!

“The artist James was referring to was Ryan Sook, and he was someone Joss really liked,” explained Dark Horse Senior Managing Editor Scott Allie. (The artist was misidentified as inker Keith Barnett in the original post.) “When James expressed his concerns about Ryan, Joss talked to James for me, and told him this was how he wanted the book handled. I talked to Juliet about this recently, and she had no problem with any of it — she’d seen the book and thought it was fine.”

“Looking back, I wish I’d been more sensitive to James’ feelings at the time, but the main problem was a difference of opinion about the tone of the book,” added Allie. “To Joss and me, it was a horror story, focused on two of the best villains from the show — this was before Spike’s redemption. We wanted it to feel like a horror comic.”

Reading of Marsters’s “rude awakening,” one can’t help but recall the words of Alfred Hitchcock: “I never said all actors are cattle; what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.”

PS: If you go over to Sook’s website you’ll see tons and tons of art, and after a few clicks, you get the feeling he may know more about making comics than your nerdlebrity on the street. (Above, a painting of HELLBOY’s Abe Sapien.)

§ In an interview with Percy Carey, musician/actor/model Tyrese Gibson (above) reveals how he got caught up in the glamorous, exciting world of comics books.

Tyrese Gibson: I have always been open minded to new things, and I’ve said this a few times: I’m no comic book veteran, but when I went to ComiCon to promote Death Race, that energy out there really did something to me. I had no idea…So that’s when I decided I wanted to not only be a part of this world, but I wanna create something that I know the die hard comic book followers out there would appreciate.

Gibson was so starstruck that he is getting on board the comics train with his OWN creation, something called MAYHEM, which doesn’t have hasn’t announced a publisher yet. If you took every interview with a celebrity where they explain how awesome comics are and how much they love them, threw them in a stew pot and made a nice reduction of them, you would get this interview. In fact, we don’t even really need to link to them any more, but then we would have no reason to go searching for pictures of Tyrese Gibson any more. So it’s a real win/lose situation.

§ Director Michel Gondry says that cartoon collaboration with Daniel Clowes is still on:

CS: What about the stuff you were going to do with Daniel Clowes, is that still going to happen sometime?
Gondry: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we (doing) a cartoon, an animated film that I co-directed with my son, called “Megalomania,” and it’s being produced by Curious Pictures in New York. Dan Clowes wrote the screenplay and we have Steve Buscemi doing the voice of the main character. I guess I will do that more efficiently after “The Green Hornet” but they already started to work on it.

§ Alex Ross has been named the first guest at next year’s C2E2, the new Chicago-based comics convention being put together by Reed Exhibitions, the guys who bring you the New York Comic-Con. Reed also threw a big launch party in Chicago last night, and we’re sure someone blogged about it somewhere.

§ According to Mel Caylo’s Twitter, he’s just joined Archaia Studios Press:

Just accepted a marketing position with Archaia Studios Press, publisher of MOUSE GUARD. It’s great to be back!

Thanks to everyone for the congratulatory wishes. I’m excited to work for Archaia! Best part? I get to stay in LA!

Caylo was formerly with Wizard and Top Cow.

§ Jud Meyers of the comic shop Each-2 writes a customer’s turn to the dark side:

Tom and Sheila began to change. She became more vocal about what he purchased and his irritation with her grew.

“Do you really need two of those?” Sheila would say.

He’d reply, “Do you ever not get the things you want?”

She’d roll her eyes and scoff, holding her tongue in public.

Eventually, as is usually the case with these types of scenarios, they would stand at my register and hear the words I’ve so often spoken in my time in retail.

“I’m afraid your card’s been declined.”

They would whisper to one another, shrug it off and hand me a different piece of plastic that would work. Or not.

§ Following up on a story we linked to the other day, in his regular Q&A session at Newsarama, Dan DiDio clarifies Mike Kunkel is stil on BILLY BATSON:

19. Finally – can you clarify what’s going on with Mike Kunkel and Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam?

DD: Sure – he’s not leaving it. That all was started with me trying to make an announcement from a panel audience because Art and Franco were there. What happened was that we wanted to get Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam back on a monthly schedule. Because of that, we’re very well aware that Mike could not deliver on a monthly schedule, but we wanted to make sure that the book kept coming out, so we lifted Art and Franco to be writing team on the issues that Mike can’t be there for. We’ve got two more issues by Mike that he’s working on now, and once they’re ready to go, we’ll be soliciting those as well. So Mike is by no means away from Billy Batson right now – we just wanted to get our kids books on a monthly schedule, so we had to use two different teams on this.

§ In other retail news, A new version of MOBY, the POS software, has just been released.

The world premiere of the new STAR TREK movie was held Tuesday night in Sydney, Australia (apparently because director JJ Abrams just likes Sydney), and it was the occasion for one of our greatest dreams to COME TRUE. Karl Urban and Eric Bana — TOGETHER, SIDE BY SIDE.

Karl Urban!

Eric Bana!

Sadly, they were not engaged in a naked tussle in a steam room — but, you know, they look fine all gussied up, as well.

An even cooler premiere for the film — which focused on the youthful exploits of the crew of the Enterprise– took place a bit earlier when a screening of STAR TREK 2: THE WRATH OF KHAN was interrupted by the arrival of Leonard Nimoy, who proceeded to introduce a screening of the new film. Talk about a hand-picked audience. /Flim rounds up early reactions to the movie, which seem to be positive.

The Festival d’Angoulême blog has this picture up, and we had to link to it.

§ Supervillain-styled rapper Doom is back, and we will doubtless find much to amuse us on his new album, dropping today

With a career modeled on the Marvel comics arch-villain Doctor Doom, the metal mask-wearing fortysomething remains characteristically cryptic about future live dates. “I tell you one thing: when you come to a Doom show, come expecting to hear music, don’t come expecting to see. You never know who you might see. It has nothing to do with a visual thing. Use your mind and think. I might be there. Next time I do a show, I might tell everybody to close they eyes. Use your own mind’s eye. That’s better than a camera phone, know what I’m sayin’?’ ”

§ Comics-loving director Guillermo del Toro is embedded in New Zealand for Hobbit filming, but luckily there are fine comics shops in New Zealand.

When I was a child, ladies and gentleman, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was a the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero of the movie. So every dream that I ever dreamed, has come true a hundred times.
Elvis Presley

* excerpt from Jaycee Award speech, Jan., 1971

A new site called Quotes On Comics with random testimonials such as the above, and other thoughtful quotes from comics practitioners. Proprietor Paulo Patrício hopes to keep expanding it with ever more pithy sayings.

Internet sweetheart Megan Fox proves she has no fear of the nerd demo, as she has TWO comic book projects on the horizon. First, she’s slated to join Josh Brolin and John Malkovich in the JONAH HEX movie as a “gun wielding beauty” and romantic interest. . She’s also attached to a FATHOM movie in the works at Fox Atomic. The late Michael Turner’s signature character, the underwater lass has had a lengthy development history:

The project was at one point set up at James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment. When the option lapsed, producer Peter Safran scooped it up and began packaging it, eventually attracting Fox, a fan of the comic since its 1998 debut, when it became the top-selling comic of the year. Fox had been seeking Turner to investigate “Fathom’s” rights availability.

Fox is now helping develop and shape the adaptation, which is being written by Jordan Mechner, the creator of video game “Prince of Persia.” …
Turner will be credited as exec producer. Frank Mastromauro also is exec producing. Zak Kadison and Eric Lieb at Atomic will oversee.

Fox is one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood, perhaps due to the fact that she has no problem getting her kit off for photos in men’s mags, as we discovered when we tried to find a picture of her to accompany this item. That lack of shyness should serve her well for underwater adventures!

We all know Christian Bale is brooding and intense, part of what made him the perfect Batman (and made his Bruce Wayne so little fun to be around), but HOW brooding and intense? So intense that when a mild-mannered DP wandered into a shot, Bale embarked on a three-minute diatribe of vituperation and invective that’s the verbal equivalent of a Batman beating. You can hear the whole thing (released by TMZ) here, but be warned, it is NOT work safe and if you don’t like profanity — or cringing in embarrassment — don’t listen.

The incident took place on the set of TERMINATOR: SALVATION last summer; according to TMZ, the recording was released to the insurance company in case Bale walked out on the film. If you want to connect the dots, it was also soon before the unfortunate event where Bale’s family called the police on him prior to the UK premiere of THE DARK KNIGHT. Temper, temper.

UPDATE: This follow-up post on TMZ casts more light on the incident — there were a stressed out star and a crew that persevered:

Bruce Franklin — assistant director and associate producer on the film — told us “Christian is a method actor and was completely immersed in his scene… his reaction was from the heat of the moment.”

Franklin said Bale was under a lot of pressure because of his crazy “Dark Knight” promotion schedule, and that the crew ended up shooting for another seven hours that day.

As you know, we’re a bit skeptical of celebrities who suddenly yearn to write comics, having discovered this long-buried dream now that comic book movies are all the rage in Hollywood. There are a few slebs we’ll give a pass to, however, based on the fact that they were out and about being comics lovers long before it become fashionable. Such a figure is English chat show host Jonathan Ross, known as “Wossy” in Blighty because of a famed lisp. Ross — who gained comics fame for smooching Neil Gaiman at the Eisners in 2007 — has been on enforced hiatus due to a suspension over a phone prank, but hasreportedly put the spare time to good use by writing some comics for Marvel :

Wossy, 48, a keen collector of old comics, said: “I’m writing some comic books but it’s a lot harder than I thought.”

Comic expert Rich Johnston said: “Jonathan has a good relationship with Marvel. It would be a dream come true.”

In fact, Ross may be eager for a return engagement at the Eisners — according to a Twitter just yesterday “I’d it weird to be getting excited about comicon on January ?” No Wossy, not at all…we’ve been having anxiety dreams about it for about two weeks.

The Beat wanted to send a shout out to longtime Beat pal Gregory Shane “Hurricane” Helms who returns to action in the WWE ring tonight on Smackdown for the first time since breaking his neck in May, 2007. Hurricane (now returning to his former ring name) has had a tough year or so, and it’s really great to see him back where he belongs. And sporting a gigantic new tattoo.

Come to think of it, as you may recall, Hurricane was formerly “The” Hurricane, the superhero-themed wrestling superstar, known for his love of Green Lantern and his superheroic lifestyle. Although the green-tressed and masked Hurricane persona has been gone for several years, isn’t it time, maybe, for one of those surprise comeback appearances, like how Mick Foley used to come out as Mankind every once in a while? We think so. Perhaps Helms will once again don the mask and everyone will “stand back.”

Sign up for my Beat Facebook Fan Page. Unfortunately, due to the huge number of friend requests I get from people I don’t actually know, I can’t friend everybody…but you can friend my Page, and I will totally send out exclusive Beat reminders and foofaw. Because Facebook is cool and a new way to communicate, and marks a new dimension in human interaction that has absolutely nothing to do with making money, or something like that.

News that this or that “famous person” reads comics isn’t exactly a headline-maker (unless you’re running for president, of course). With all the success of comics-based media in the last few years, it’s more newsworthy when some actress or sports figure proclaims they DON’T like comics. However, there are still a few nerdlebrities whose involvement with graphic literature goes above and beyond a few trips to the comics shop.

Such a figure is Eddie Argos, (above, far right) lead singer of Art Brut, an energetic British “Art Wave” band much beloved by The Beat’s music-listening pals. Argos is a sometime-painter and a huge DC Comics fan. Even further, buried in the news that Pixies legend Frank Black will produce their new album, is the title of one of their songs: “D.C. Comics and Chocolate Milkshake.” Could this be a new anthem? A chocolate milkshake goes well with anything, including comics!

Now, we know what you are thinking: What does Argos think of UMBRELLA ACADEMY, penned by fellow music/comics crossover star Gerard Way? Well, it turns out that Argos pens an occasional column for the St Louis Playback, and in one, he gives us the skinny:

I’m not really a fan of My Chemical Romance, and Grant Morrison’s pretentious ramblings in the introduction to the book claiming that the band is spearheading some sort of “necrodelic” counter-culture revolution makes me dislike them even more. Personally, I’m more into Fall-Out Boy. Also, as a singer in a band myself who also maintains fantasies of one day writing a comic of my own, there was probably a little bit of jealousy sneaking into my psyche as I started to read this book. I am, after all, a Scorpio with a rampant ego who sees himself in competition with absolutely everybody, so consequently, I was pre-disposed to dislike this book from the start. The cover to the collected Umbrella Academy by Gabriel Ba. I was wrong though. The Umbrella Academy is a pretty decent book. Most new books take a while to set the scene, and this book being no exception is a bit of a muddle at the beginning. Actually, thinking about it now, I started reading it the morning after my birthday, so it’s possible that it was my mind that was a bit of a muddle and the book is actually pretty straight-forward. Anyway, whoever was at fault - me or the book — I was really into it by the second chapter.

Call it a forced — but powerful — endorsement.

We’re sure all of this is old news to Brian Heater, and indeed, he recently interviewed Argos, who proves that his comics reading is not just a flash in the pan:

This time next year, I hope to be working on the soundtrack to major motion picture adaptation of which comic:

All three Essex County books by Jeff Lemire. They are a trilogy of books about the same small Canadian town. It’s a real place, but they’re fictional stories. Really, totally amazing. I can’t recommend these books enough. There on an independent called Top Shelf. I might write the songs anyway and release some sort of concept album so when it does inevitably turn into a film, I have a head start on everybody else.

What took you so long, People?

Related: Former Fox veep and WOLVERINE production exec Jeff Katz left his post to start some new business, which he’s been been dropping hints about here and there on a apostolic mission across the globe. Meanwhile, the other night, at Comic Book Club, he was extolling the possibilities of a Deadpool spinoff starring Ryan Reynolds:

“The film nicely tees [Deadpool] off for his own spin-off film,” said Katz, who raved about Ryan Reynolds‘ portrayal of the wise-cracking mercenary. In Marvel’s comic book universe, Wade Wilson (a.k.a. Deadpool) is a product of the same “Weapon X” experiments that Wolverine was subjected to by the Canadian government, but the experiments left him disfigured and mentally unstable.

Katz’s comments seemed to reiterate those of Fox Chairman Tom Rothman, who previously addressed the possibility of a “Deadpool” spin-off and commented on the tone of “Wolverine.” According to Katz, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is “certainly the most violent” of the X-Men movies thus far, with a darker tone and significantly more action than its predecessors.

Mm, Ryan Reynolds spinoff…

In our web trawls, we happened to run across this quote from Sean Connery, star of a well known spy movie franchise, an Indiana Jones film and THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING. You’ll recall that Connery retired from film after his last outing in 2003, the rather dreadful LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. Why did the burly Scotsman pull the plug on his distinguished acting career?

“The time has come because of my rather unfortunate last movie. The cost to me in terms of frustration and avoiding going to jail for murder cannot have continued.”

Once again, that was Sean Connery speaking, and not Alan Moore, or, indeed anyone who actually sat through the movie, although murder may have crossed their minds, as well. Although the dismal, life-sapping artifact of the film itself was bad enough, it was Connery’s brawling fistfights with director Stephen Norrington, that really put him over the edge. Norrington has, likewise, never been near a film set again, and for that we can only thank Sir Sean.

The nerd percentage of President-elect Barack Obama continues to fire the imaginations of comics enthusiasts everywhere, even though, as pointed out in the Beat comment section by junior reporter Darren Hudak, Obama is far from the first comics-loving president.

Reagan’s favorate comic strip was Spider-Man, believe it or not, he said in more then one interview that the first thing he did in the morning was read that days installment of Spidey, he even wrote Stan a fan letter, (how frigging cool is that), Stan mentioned it in an interview sometime in the 80’s. No word on wheter he ever read the comics.

FDR was also a fan of the comics, there are pictures of him reading comic strips to kids, and one picture of him holding a Superman comic with a big smile on his face. A famous story has FDR calling a newspaper to find out how Dick Tracy was going to escape from the bad guys latest and greatest deathtrap because he simply couldn’t wait till the next installment. (Talk about being a fanboy).

There you go, the two greatest presidents of the last century, both COMICS NERDS. Far from adding to an image as a mouth-breaking, anorak-wearing loser, the idea of reading comics has been a great leveler for the men in the White House — evidently sharing the concerns of common folk just like real peeps is a political plus. So maybe we will hear Obama talk about the Superman soon.

Anyway, in addition to his verified comic book reading past, the leftie Obama (left-HANDED) also likes to doodle. One man purchased this senatorial scribble at a charity auction:

Some intense bidding drove the final price up to $2,075, and Berzon later learned he had been bidding against television actress Gillian Anderson of “The X Files,” whose family is deeply involved with the charity.

But Berzon said he figured he still had a bargain in securing the doodle of the announced presidential contender.

Just to complete the “Is Obama a nerd?” news cycle for the day, here’s some picture of Obama posing with the now-iconic Alex Ross T-shirt, which we nicked from Lee Hester’s email newsletter.

Via everywhere on earth:

“Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to save the planet Earth.”

– Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, during humorous remarks at a charity dinner.

PS: the above famed picture is old, and Obama definitely has had this whole Superman identification thing going on for a while. We’re sure someone somewhere online has done a thorough examination of this; this post is not it.

§Fed head Ben Bernanke who could use the powers of Shazam as he leads the world through the wreckage of the post-housing bubble crisis, is also a fan:

As a schoolboy in the mid-1960s, Ben Bernanke followed the usual rites of passage in tiny Dillon, S.C. He waited tables at South of the Border—a roadside attraction on Interstate 95—and played sax in a high-school garage band (”We murdered ‘Light My Fire,’ his fellow band member Johnny Braddy recalls). Inevitably, young Ben and his friends found themselves gathering in the afternoon around the comic-book rack at the Jay Bee Drug Store, which was run by his father and uncle and where he worked after school. “He was very efficient,” recalls his Uncle Mort Bernanke, but “he loved to be in that comic-book section.” Asked now what superhero he most identified with as a kid, Bernanke laughs and allows that he was partial to the stalwarts of the DC Comics group, especially Superman and Batman.

§ Liberal media it-girl and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is just another comics reader:

By her bed: Comic books. I read comics sometimes and graphic novels. I appreciate that genre.

§ Writer/actor/director Eric Bogosian had been rumored to be doing a graphic novel for some time, but he seems to have run into roadblocks:

“The problem is,” Bogosian explained when we caught up with him at the Directors Guild Honors in New York on Thursday (October 16), “what they want to do is make a deal to do the graphic novel, which would be great, and there’s no money there, which is fine — obviously you’re doing it for the fun of it — but if a movie comes out of it, then they guarantee that they will not pay you for it, that they will screw you.” Because of Vertigo/DC’s ties to Warner Bros.? “I’m not saying those guys specifically,” Bogosian said, “but it’s very hard to make a deal where you can make it all work.”