DC COMICS DETAILS FEATURES OF WATCHMEN COLLECTIONS

In response to questions from retailers, DC Comics offers this guide to the features of the four different WATCHMEN collected editions. All four collect the entire Hugo and Eisner-Award winning epic written by Alan Moore with art and cover by Dave Gibbons.

The WATCHMEN TP (FEB058406) is the original WATCHMEN collection, running 416 pages, featuring the high-quality, recolored artwork found in WATCHMEN: THE ABSOLUTE EDITION, which were restored by WildStorm FX and original series colorist John Higgins. As a reminder, this edition is available to retailers on consignment sale now through December 1.

The WATCHMEN INTERNATIONAL EDITION TP (JUL088045) runs 416 pages and features recolored cover art by Gibbons that originally appeared in WHO’S WHO UPDATE ’87 #5 and the high-quality, recolored artwork found in WATCHMEN: THE ABSOLUTE EDITION, which were restored by WildStorm FX and original series colorist John Higgins. It is available in the U.S. and Canada exclusively through Diamond Comic Distributors.

The WATCHMEN HC (JUL080172) runs 436 pages, with newly colored cover art by Gibbons that previously appeared in the WATCHMEN ABSOLUTE EDITION. In addition, this edition includes the two text pieces written by Moore and Gibbons in 1988 for the Graphitti Designs edition, as well as a nine page Gallery section with selected art from the Absolute Edition. It is available for advance reorder and is scheduled to arrive in stores on November 12.

The WATCHMEN: THE ABSOLUTE EDITION HC Fourth printing (JUL080174) is an oversized, slipcased hardcover running 464 pages. This edition includes the two text pieces written by Moore and Gibbons in 1988 for the Graphitti Designs edition, as well as a 37-page section with the original WATCHMEN proposal, an expanded selection of rarely seen artwork and a sample of the script for issue #1. It is available for advance reorder and is scheduled to arrive in stores on November 12.

Also offered in the October Previews is the WATCHMEN #1 New Printing (OCT080158), a 32-page facscimile edition of the historic issue that began the WATCHMEN phenomenon in 1986, offered for the first time in years at its original cover price of $1.50 U.S. and scheduled to arrive in stores on December 3.

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JOKER GRAPHIC NOVEL PREVIEW PAGES ARE NOW ONLINE

MYSPACE, NYMAG.COM, IGN, MTV's Splash Page Blog and Newsarama have all unveiled exclusive previews of the JOKER hardcover original graphic novel, which goes on sale on October 22.

Expect an extensive and widespread publicity campaign to unfold in the weeks ahead, with significant review coverage scheduled for mainstream press and comic trade press outlets alike.

Look for JOKER preview pages at:

MYSPACE:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=92159514&blogID=440757461

NYMAG.COM:
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/10/comics_joker.html

MTV’s Splash Page Blog:
http://splashpage.mtv.com/2008/10/16/dc-comics-delivers-an-exclusive-sneak-peek-at-joker/

NEWSARAMA:
http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?aid=23383

IGN:
http://comics.ign.com/articles/921/921227p1.html Read more...

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'GUITAR HERO' FIGURES IN TOYS 'R' US STORES NOW!

Plus, Win a Complete Set of Guitar Hero Action Figures

McFarlane Toys' first series of Guitar Hero action figures is now rocking Toys 'R' Us stores!

For information on which Toys 'R' Us stores near you are carrying these figures, go here.

Series 1 includes four of Guitar Hero's fan-favorite characters. Each 6-inch scale articulated figure includes a character-specific guitar; the line retails for $10-$13.

• Lars Ümlaut
• Johnny Napalm
• God of Rock
• Axel Steel

We have added some repaints to our 6-inch Guitar Hero Series 1 lineup. These additional figures are scheduled for release in November.

• Axel Steel with Spawn T-shirt
• God of Rock - All gold (Toys 'R' Us Exclusive)
• God of Rock - White toga variant
• Johnny Napalm - Green mohawk variant
• Johnny Napalm - Skeleton Johnny
• Johnny Napalm - Black mohawk with green striped pants (Toys 'R' Us Exclusive)
• Lars Ümlaut - Blond variant

Warning: Choking hazard - Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.

WIN A COMPLETE SET OF 'GUITAR HERO' SERIES 1 FIGURES!
Are you ready to rock, thrash, shred and be a metalhead?

Of course you are. Enter to win a set of McFarlane Toys' Guitar Hero Series 1 action figures, including Lars Ümlaut, God of Rock, Johnny Napalm and the ever-popular Axel Steel sporting his exclusive Spawn shirt!

To enter, go here.

http://www.spawn.com/news/news3.aspx?id=13472 Read more...

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Dream Halloween information

Dream Halloween is right around the corner. This is a fantastic event where Mattel teams created one-of-a-kind collector items to auction off for Children Affected by Aids. This year, among the spectacular toys are two items we showed off first at San Diego Comic Con, the one-of-a-kind Darth Mater and the second and last publically available “Spirit of Grayskull” figures. Both are fantastic collector items with all proceeds from the auction going to a very noble cause.

If you are interested in attending the event or would like more information about bidding from home please go to www.CAAF4kids.org.

Darth Mater:

It’s Halloween in Radiator Springs and Mater from Disney/Pixar’s CARS has decided to make his own Darth Vader costume! Using found objects from the local junkyard, he has transformed himself into the not-so-terrifying villain Darth Mater!

Created exclusively for CAAF’s 2008 Dream Halloween auction, Darth Mater is a one-of-a-kind 1:9.5 scale model created by the design team at Mattel in close cooperation with John Lasseter and George Lucas. Armed with a light-up red lightsaber that pivots from his right front wheel both clockwise and counterclockwise, Darth Mater makes lightsaber and Darth Vader breathing sounds, plays the classic Star Wars “Imperial March” theme, and utters dialogue recorded by Larry the Cable Guy especially for the occasion with funny quotes such as “Luke, I’m your manufacturer!”

Darth Mater comes on a custom-built 21.75” wide by 18.75” deep by 4.75” high base decorated like the floor of the Death Star with flashing LED lights synchronized with the sounds. The base includes two clear acrylic plaques, one with the Lucasfilm logo signed by Mr. Lucas and the other with the Disney/Pixar logo signed by Mr. Lasseter. Finally, the model is protected by a 21.75” wide by 18.75” deep by 14.25” high clear acrylic case.

Spirit of Grayskull:

King Grayskull is the first new Masters of the Universe Classic figure from Mattel featuring the first ever highly detailed fully articulated versions of classic Masters of the Universe characters from the world of He-Man and She-Ra. King Grayskull is the ancestor of the heroic warrior He-Man and defended the ancient land of Eternia from the evil forces of King Hssss and Hordak!

To help celebrate the return of Masters of the Universe toys to collector's shelves, Mattel has created a special variant of their San Diego Comic Con exclusive King Grayskull action figure as a "Spirt" which will forever live in the walls of his castle. Only two editions of this all-clear version of King Grayskull will be made for the public. One was raffled off at SDCC 2008, the second will be auctioned for charity at the Dream Halloween event.

King Grayskull comes complete in a diorama pop out package which folds out to create a mini Castle Grayskull playset featuring flashing energy and the sound of King Grayskull declaring "I have Power!" when the jaw bridge is opened. He includes his shield, battle axe and Power Sword.

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Mattel Q&A For October 15th

Mattel took some time out to answer some questions:


With the legal issues DC Comics is having with using the name of Superboy, are there any plans for a Superboy figure? (Kon-El, Prime, or Superman as a boy)

Yes, we will do “Superboy” figures, but plan to call them things like “Prime” “Superman Clone” or “Kon El” to differentiate.

Will there be more Movie Master Batman figures?

Yes. A new wave of “Kit bashed” figures will be out in January with new sculpts in the spring.

Why are the Movie Masters Thug Figures the same basic figure with different evidence bags? Will you release all the Thug figures with variant heads and bodies and not just different evidence bags?

The first part- to create variants for collectors. The second part, we do have plans for more Thug figures in the future. The line is doing very well.

What is the exact date for the Adam Strange & Starfire 2-pak?

We will have an exact date to announce in November on MattyCollector.com. It will be close to the end of 2008.

With New York Comic Con 1 week before Toy Fair 2009, will we have to wait until Toy Fair to see what’s new?

No. We will have a lot of new product on display at the convention including a very exciting exclusive and other hard to find Mattel product.
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Hot Toys - MMS81 - The Dark Knight - TWO-FACE / Harvey Dent collectible figure - Preorder Now!!!

"I guess you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

He likes tossing coin to decide a person's live or dead!

Hot Toys is proud to announce the seventh collectibles from the Dark Knight movie series 1/6th scale TWO-FACE/ Harvey Dent collectible figure

The figure stands approximately 12 inches tall and features more than 32 points of articulation, it also features:

• Dressed in Two-Face accurate costume of destroyed suit, shirt, tie, pants and shoes, the character wear in the Dark Knight movie
• Alternate head with authentic likeness of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent
• Interchangeable Harvey Dent’s suit jacket
• One set of interchangeable hands
• Pistol
• A signature coin
• 12 inches figure stand with Harvey Dent/ Two-Face nameplate

Artist:

• Two-Face head – damaged part by an artist from the US & Harvey Dent part by Yulli
• Harvey Dent Head Sculpt by Yulli
• Head Art Directed and Paint by JC.Hong

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Dark Horse Deluxe unveils a new line of collectibles based on The Spirit!

One of the most anticipated new films of the year is Frank Millers movie adaptation of Will Eisners comic strip, The Spirit, opening Christmas Day. A classic action-adventure-romance, The Spirit tells the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead to fight crime from the shadows of an urban jungle. Dark Horse Deluxe has channeled the noir mood and exotic images of this Lionsgate release and brought the world of Central City into being with a new range of officially licensed collectiblesincluding a sculpted bust and statue, a beautiful snow globe, and a unique LED illuminated journal. As the movie opens nationwide, fans will be anticipating the arrival of these fine collectibles with the same eagerness with which they rushed to theaters to see the film.

The Spirit is portrayed by Gabriel Macht, who brings a larger-than-life heroic quality to the role. His performance inspired the initial sculptures: a limited-edition bust, full-size, limited-edition statue, and elaborate sculptural high-end snow globe. He was very generous in his cooperation for these projects, and the results are apparent in the realism of the finished work.

In selecting the creative team for this assignment, Dark Horse enlisted two of the most noted digital sculptors around to create the 3D versions of the moody hero. Hot on the heels of their stunning statues of the characters from the recent Batman smash hit, Kolby Jukes and Oluf Hartvigson have created, respectively, Dark Horses statue and bust.

The bust, which is the latest example of what is now a well-established area of modern collecting, measures 4.30"W X 3.15"D X 6.00"H . Packaged in a protective foam cube in deluxe color packaging, this piece is a hand-numbered limited-edition of only 750 copies for worldwide distribution. The manufacturers suggested retail price is $59.99 and The Spirit Movie mini-bust is scheduled to release on January 28, 2008.

The Spirit Statue presents the masked avenger in full figure (1:7 Life Size). The dimensions measure 11.21"W X 7.34"D X 8.5"H. Peering over a rooftop of Central City, The Spirit is poised and ready to spring. Sculpted by Kolby Jukes, this piece is also a numbered limited-edition of only 750 copies for worldwide distribution, with a manufacturers suggested retail price of $199.00. It will be released on Christmas Day.

The continual snowfall is a graphic theme in The Spirit, as it as often been in Frank Millers graphic stories, and creates a visual atmosphere that oozes drama. Therefore, it was not hard to imagine a beautiful snow globe that would capture and reproduce the effect. Central City, as depicted in the film, essentially becomes one of the main characters. The detail was focused on the buildings and fire escapes, and the movies tagline acts as a rooftop sign. A high-quality 120mm glass sphere encases a liquid sky that is spackled with a miniature flurry of white. Crafting the miniature environment was a technical challenge for Dark Horse and sculptors Jukes and Hartvigson, but the result is a unique collectible that is fascinating. Limited to only 500 pieces, packaged in a foam cube in color packaging, The Spirit Movie Snow Globe has a manufacturers suggested retail price of $99.99, and will be available in retail stores in late November.

Long known for its modern artist journal and stationery line, Dark Horse Deluxe has come up with a new journal for The Spirit. A moody silhouette of the hero stands against a snow-spackled night sky. This cover is enhanced with a dozen or so tiny lighting elements concealed inside the journals cover. When activated by a hidden on/off button, the colored jewels in the snowflakes swirling around The Spirit light up as if under a streetlight on an urban winters night. The journal itself is 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", with 128 interior pages suitable as a compendium of the owner's secret thoughts . A logo-lettered book spine conceals spiral binding. The publication date for this item is December 6, 2008, just in time for the film release. The manufacturers suggested retail price is $14.99.

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Indie Spotlight Comic Book Heroes action figures is the future of toys

Shocker Toys is happy to announce an alliance with many major Independent comic book creators to distribute a full fan-driven Independent comic book action figure line. Shocker Toy’s expertly crafted, hyper-articulated and highly sought-after Indie Spotlight comic book heroes toys are now available and shipping in December 2008. Pre-order now www.shockertoys.com , www.bigbadtoystore.com or Diamond Comics. Stores and Press are urged to contact us for pricing and detailed press info.

Indie Spotlight Comic Book Heroes: Series 1

Series 1 (Maxx Series) features Jim Valentino’s ShadowHawk, Rob Schrab’s Scud the disposable assassin, Terry Moore's Katchoo of ‘Strangers in Paradise’, David Mack’s Kabuki and MTV’s The Maxx in 8”. Made of sturdy plastics and hyper-articulated joints, these figures can be posed in many ways. Each comes with extra hands, accessories, comics or posters and an Isz from the Maxx’s world. Collect all 7 figures and their UPC's to mail away for a Mr. Gone figure, the sinister dark enemy of The Maxx.

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MARVEL ANIMATION EXPANDS SLATE WITH PRODUCTION OF ALL NEW ANIMATED SERIES-- THE AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES

Further strengthening its robust animation slate, Marvel Animation, a division of Marvel Entertainment, announced today the production of an all new animated series, THE AVENGERS: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Production on 26 half-hour episodes is already underway using the production services of Film Roman, producer of the Simpsons and King of the Hill.

The new series, expected to be available for broadcast in 2011, continues on Marvel’s already impressive television line-up which includes the all-new Wolverine and the X-Men and Iron Man: Armored Adventures series that will both debut on Nicktoons in 2009. Marvel Animation will also debut the all-new series Marvel Super Hero Squad and The Black Panther next year.

THE AVENGERS: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is an all-new property featuring some of Marvel’s all-time favorite characters including Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Giant Man and Wasp. When the planet is threatened by Super Villains, time traveling conquerors, alien invaders, mythical monsters and mad robots bent on the total destruction of humanity, when forces of evil are so overwhelming that no single hero has the power to save the world, when there is no hope left…the Avengers assemble!

The Avengers are the best of the best in the Marvel Universe and the greatest heroes who take on the most unbeatable foes. These are the heroes who hold back the storm, and the fate of the world rests on their shoulders.

"The addition of THE AVENGERS: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to our quickly expanding animation slate continues our plan to complement each of our tentpole live action features with an animated series," said Eric Rollman, President of Animation. "This new ensemble series tracks perfectly with our highly anticipated ‘road to the Avengers’ strategy which includes some of Marvel’s biggest and most beloved characters, and which kicks off with two Avengers’ themed feature films in summer 2011.”

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The Spirit Coming To Minimates!

Some of the most ground-breaking and innovative comic book characters in history will be coming to Diamond Select Toys in 2009! Based on the immortal works of Will Eisner, we are very excited to announce a new line of Minimates featuring none other than Denny Colt - more famously known as The Spirit!

Beginning in 1940, The Spirit introduced the world to the gritty noir adventures of a policeman turned vigilante, determined to fight for justice no matter the cost. Along the way he encounters fellow crusaders, duplicitous paramours and ruthless villains capable of terrifying even the heroes of today. Possessing no super powers per se, the Spirit instead relies on his athleticism and fighting style to punish the wicked and save the day.

Soon to be a major motion picture written and directed by comic book legend Frank Miller, Diamond Select Toys will release Minimates based on both the Eisner-penned comic and the modern retelling. The debut release will feature core characters as they appear in the big-screen Spirit feature opening this Christmas Day - including the Spirit (Gabriel Macht), former sweetheart Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), the twisted Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson) and the maniacal Octopus (Samuel L Jackson)! A special Diamond Previews exclusive Minimates two-pack featuring the Spirit and Sand Saref will showcase some of the duo's alternate looks.

Comic-based Minimates are currently in development and will showcase The Spirit's rich 68 year history while more film-centric Minimates could also see release as the line continues. Look for the first Spirit Minimates sets in comic book and specialty stores in early January - just after The Spirit's film premiere! Click on either image below to pre-order these fantastic sets!

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