Superman Picture | Superman Logo |Superman myspace layout

While the cat's away, the mice will play. Superman Homepage editor in chief Steve Younis is still on vacation so it'd be easy to say this column's late again because I don't have my EIC on my back. But with Steve away, Neal and I are running the site in tandem so, technically, for now, I'm both cat and mouse. Or both Perry and Lois. So while the column is two days late again this week, you can all take comfort that the de facto co-EIC, me, is taking it out on me.

San Diego Comic-Con has come and gone but the "Smallville" news for the last season seems to be never-ending. The return of so many characters who are supposed to be dead - Jonathan Kent and Lionel Luthor for instance - leads me to believe that Darkseid's minions are either resuscitating the dead or building clones. Given the involvement of Project: Cadmus in the festivities this season, I'm guessing it's time to send in the clones.

With one magic word . . . SHAZAM! Billy Batson, orphaned star reporter for WHIZ-TV, says his magic word and is granted the powers of the six Gods whose initials spell out the name of the old Wizard Shazam - Solomon's Wisdom, Hercules Strength, Atlas's Stamina, Zeus's Power, Achilles' Courage, and Mercury's Speed. Unfortunately for Billy, before he became Captain Marvel, the World's Mightiest Mortal, the wizard had chosen another champion, Teth Adam, who on uttering the word "Shazam!" became Black Adam. Teth became consumed with power and turned to the dark side and was eventually banished by the wizard. Eventually Black Adam returns to Earth.

The story of Black Adam's return and his battle with the Big Red Cheese has been told many times and many ways, but, this November, it's told with Superman! As announced last week, the upcoming compilation DVD of the DC Showcase series of animated shorts will feature the never before seen 22-minute flick "Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam". One of the most exciting things about the "Superman/Shazam!" short is the return of voice actor George Newbern to the roles of Clark Kent and Superman. Newbern replaced Tim Daly who had voiced Supes on "Superman: The Animated Series" when the character and his continuity leapt to "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited".

It's thrilling to see Captain Marvel and Superman together given they, at one time, legally tried to drive each other out of business. Superman's DC Comics owners sued the Captain's Fawcett Comics owners and Republic Pictures who made the "Shazam! Serial in the 40s. DC argued that both Billy and Clark Kent were reporters in their private lives who split their days between reporting new and being super. The pair had the same color hair, arch villains with no hair, and both could fly. Believe it or not these are the principle reasons a judge found the Big Red Cheese to be derivative of Superman. The case went back and forth in the NY courts and eventually before a final decision was rendered, Fawcett had lost so much money on the law suit, they could now longer maintain the company. So around 1953, Fawcett and the good Captain went out of business. DC never actually won the case, their machinations put Fawcett in dire financial straits and led to the company's dissolution.

Years passed. TV's Gomer Pyle kept the word "Shazam!" in fashion as an exclamation. As the 1970s dawned, comics had changed significantly since its infancy. There were literally hundreds of superheroes at DC and Marvel, and many had powers that were derivative of other heroes. For the industry to grow, some of this crossover of abilities, secret identity occupations, etc. had to be allowed.

In what was a fascinating turn of events, DC acquired Fawcett's library and began to publish Shazam! in the early 1970s. Because Marvel Comics had beat DC to the punch by giving a superhero the name "Captain Marvel", DC has been in the unenviable position of never being able to have a comic book with the title "Captain Marvel", thus his comics at DC remained "Shazam" or "Power of Shazam".

A story from a 100-Page Super Spectacular with Lex Luthor teaming up with Mr. Mind, along with a Justice League of America 3-parter where the JLA of Earth-1 and the JSA of Earth-2 met the heroes of Captain Marvel's universe, made it pretty clear the DCU proper took place on Earth-One, and the Fawcett universe exists on what was termed "Earth-S". Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., the three Lieutenant Marvels, Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Mr. Pinky and Scarlet, Ibis, and others lived independently of the rest of the DCU - visiting the rest of the DCU during world -shattering crises.

Then there was a world shattering crisis unlike the others - it was called the Crisis on Infinite Earths and beginning in 1985, over 12 issues, the DCU was streamlined into a coherent single universe with only one Earth. As a result, Earth-S, among others, ceased to exist. The new Earth mostly resembled Earth-One but with some stark differences such as the Fawcett heroes, led by Captain Marvel, living there along with the JLA and the JSA. When the Multiverse was recently reintroduced, Captain Marvel and company remain on New Earth and also more classic versions now live on Earth-5.

In addition to the Republic movie serials, Captain Marvel has headlined a live-action TV show for Saturday mornings and a Saturday morning cartoon show which featured the entire Captain Marvel family. Talk of a feature film has persisted for several years with the Rock (Duane Johnson), among others, considered for the lead role. Nonetheless the film languishes in pre-production Hades.

In 1979, Captain Marvel appeared in the live-action two part "Legends of the Superheroes" on NBC. The special heralded the return of Adam West and Burt Ward to the live action roles of Batman and Robin.

Captain Marvel has shown up on "Justice League Unlimited". In the episode "Clash", Superman, voiced by George Newbern, takes on the World's Mightiest Mortal, in a classic superhero misunderstanding orchestrated by Lex Luthor. On "JLU", the good Captain's voice is provided by Jerry O'Connell. Captain Marvel also appears in "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" and four episodes of the Cartoon Network series "Batman: The Brave and the Bold". Later this year, Captain Marvel will be a recurring character on the DC cartoon "Young Justice" with the Captain's voice provided by Rob Lowe.

As in the "JLU" episode "Clash", actor Jerry O'Connell will be voicing Captain Marvel in the upcoming cartoon short "Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam". Between the cartoon short, "Young Justice", and "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" , the Big Red Cheese is getting quite a workout. Could all this magic lightning revive the live-action film? Stay tuned - and now let's talk TV.

This Friday on "Smallville" it's "Checkmate" at 8 PM on the CW. Reruns also air three hours each weekday on HD-Net.

Superman: The Animated Series" airs Sunday at 2 AM on DXD.

Dean Cain ("Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" and Dr. Curtis Knox on "Smallville" episode "Cure") co-stars with Eric Roberts (Mongul on "JL" and "JLU") in "Breakaway" Wednesday at 4:20 PM and Thursday at 9:50 AM on Encore Mystery.

Michael Daingerfield (Superman on the first episode of "Krypto the Super Dog") stars on "Supernatural" Wednesday at 11 AM on TNT.

Tim Daly (Superman on "STAS", "Superman: Brainiac Attacks", "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies", and the upcoming "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse") stars in "The Skeptic" Wednesday at 8:30 AM on Showtime.

K Callan (Ma Kent on "L&C") stars in "Meet the Browns" Wednesday at 8 PM on TBS.

Finola Hughes (Lara on "Superman: The Animated Series) stars in "Make it or Break it" Tuesday at 9 PM on ABC Family.

Margot Kidder guests on "Law & Order: SVU" Friday at 4 AM on USA.

John Newton ("Superboy: The TV Series", Season One) guests on "Desperate Housewives" season one rerun "Who's That Woman?" Wednesday at Noon on Lifetime. Newton also guest-stars on "Walker, Texas Ranger" Thursday at 10 AM on Spike TV.

Brandon Routh ("Superman Returns") stars in "Table for Three" Tuesday at 1:25 AM on TMC; and "Fling" Friday at 4:20 AM on TMC.

John Shea (Lex Luthor on "L&C") stars on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" Thursday at 7 PM and 11 PM on Oxygen.

Phyllis Thaxter (Ma Kent in "Superman: The Movie") stars in "Act of Violence" Friday at 2:30 PM on TCM.

Elsewhere in the DCU, well, hasn't there been enough elsewhere with the focus on Captain Marvel this week? No? Ok well this actress has been Batgirl, Raven of the Teen Titans, Katma-Tui of the Green Lantern Corps, and . . . Billy Batson, Captain Marvel's alter ego? Yes it is true, Billy Batson's a girl. Accomplished voice actress Tara Strong voiced Billy Batson on "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" - and also voiced Mary Batson on the same series. Hey, there's precedent - think Mary Martin's "Peter Pan". With one magic word, a woman becomes a boy who becomes a man. Sounds more complex than "Victor/Victoria". Catch Tara Strong this week on "Ben 10" on Cartoon Network daily at 6:30 AM; "Codename: Kids Next Door" Monday at Noon on CN; "King of the Hill" Monday at Noon and 10 PM on CN; and "Drawn Together" Wednesday at 3:30 AM and 4 AM on Comedy Central.

Have a super week and a superstition free Friday the 13th.

source: Barry Freiman, supermanhomepage.com

The DC Showcase series of animated shorts for 2010 is being collected in a one-disc special edition DVD and a Blu-Ray special edition with the new never before seen 22-minute feature "Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam". George Newbern, the voice of Superman on "Justice League", "Justice League Unlimited", and "Static Shock" returns as the voice of the Man of Tomorrow. Jerry O'Connell who voiced Captain Marvel on "JLU" episode "Clash" returns to voice the Big Red Cheese. Arnold Vosloo ("The Mummy") voices Black Adam. Emmy-winning actor James Garner provides the voice of the wizard Shazam. Here's some more information on the upcoming DVD from the Warner Home Video Press Release:

In "Superman/Shazam! The Return of Black Adam", Clark Kent's latest interview subject is street kid Billy Batson. What Clark doesn't know is that Billy is more than a feisty kid with a lot of heart - he has been chosen by an ancient wizard to represent the good of man as the World's Mightiest Mortal just by invoking the name of the wizard, "Shazam!" Billy's powers come none-too-soon, as he also discovers he's being pursued by a centuries' old, murderous villain, Black Adam - a foe so powerful, even Superman can't stop him alone.

Bruce Timm (Superman Doomsday) is executive producer and Joaquim Dos Santos (Justice League, Avatar: The Last Airbender) is director of the first series of DC Showcase titles. Michael Jelenic (Wonder Woman) wrote the 22-minute script.

Other shorts included on the DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection:

The Spectre - A detective story with an ethereal twist featuring an otherworldly character. The short is written by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), and the voice cast includes Gary Cole (Entourage) and Alyssa Milano (Charmed).

Jonah Hex - The tough-as-nails bounty hunter always gets his man - until someone else gets to him first - in this case a murderous madam who wants to steal more than just his bounty from Jonah Hex. Based on a story from the award-winning Jonah Hex comic series, and scripted by world-renowned author Joe Lansdale. The voice cast is led by Thomas Jane (Hung), Linda Hamilton (The Terminator), Michelle Trachtenberg (Mercy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Michael Rooker (Days of Thunder).

Green Arrow - At the Star City International Airport to pick up his girlfriend, Oliver Queen is forced into action as Green Arrow to protect the 10-year-old Princess of Vlatava from his old nemesis Merlyn the Magnificent and the League of Assassins. Greg Weisman (Young Justice) pens this action-packed tale, which features the voices of Neal McDonough (Desperate Housewives) as the title character and Malcolm McDowell (Entourage) as his foe.

"The DC Showcase allows us to expand the DC Universe with short stories based on intriguing characters - from a 1940s comics sensation like The Spectre to a creation of the 1970s like Jonah Hex - just begging to be presented to a very worthy fan base," said Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment.

KryptonSite has learned about two DC Universe characters that have now been cast for the second episode of Smallville Season Ten.

Sahar Biniaz has landed the role of Carter Hall's long-lost love Shayera in the episode "Shield." We don't know if we'll see her Hawkgirl-like alter ego yet or not. If the name or the actress is slightly familiar there's a reason for that - not only has she appeared in the Sam Jones III-Alan Ritchson series Blue Mountain State, but she's also had small roles in three episodes of Smallville before... in "Fierce," "Identity," and "Crossfire." She was also a "Foreign Newscaster" in Watchmen.

Michael Shanks will also be appearing in the episode, reprising his role as Carter Hall from last year's "Absolute Justice" movie event.

Playing the role of Floyd Lawton, better known to most as the Suicide Squad character "Deadshot," is Bradley Stryker. Stryker recently did three episodes of Stargate: SGU and was the first actor to play Ryan's older brother Trey Atwood on The O.C.

source: kryptonsite.com

Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch column has an article titled "Brandon Routh as Superman Again? Why Not?" in which they make the case for Routh to play the Man of Steel in Chris Nolan's upcoming film reboot:

Everyone knows that Bryan Singer set out to make an homage to the original Superman movies; hence the deployment of John Williams' jaunty 1978 score, and the zombie digitization of the late Marlon Brando as Jor-El. That makes Superman Returns a dollhouse recreation of a '70s movie that was already a '30s pastiche. That's a lot of retro for one movie. When you throw in Routh, who eerily plays Christopher Reeve playing Superman playing Clark Kent, Superman Returns feels more like a missing chapter from Grindhouse than a movie with a fast-food tie-in.

According to the article, and as previously reported on the Superman Homepage, Routh would like to play Superman in Chris Nolan's planned reboot. The article states that Nolan's office had no comment. Read the entire article over at Entertainment Weekly.

source: www.supermanhomepage.com

The Superman Homepage checked in with "Superman" film franchise Producer Ilya Salkind to get his reaction to the sudden death of "Superman: The Movie" and "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" Creative Consultant Tom Mankiewicz this past weekend at the age of 68. Here is what Mr. Salkind had to say:

I am deeply saddened by the premature and sudden loss of one of the best writers I've worked with, Tom Mankiewicz. He was an extraordinarily talented and gifted writer whose involvement in Superman 1 and 2 was essential. He was also a very kind and loving person that will sorely be missed. His great mastery writing film screenplays made working with him an unforgettable experience. He had a great sense of humor, and wit, and was a lovely person to work with. He also, of course, had a tremendous unique gift writing film screenplays. I can only wish my most heartfelt condolences to his family as well as all the many friends that he had and that loved him.

- Ilya Salkind

Eric Goldman of IGN confirms today the news that Zachary Levi, once thought to have auditioned for a role in the next Superman movie, is not in contention for the role - at least so far.

According to an article posted today, Levi addressed the rumor in person:

"It's complete fiction. A bummer that it's complete fiction!" Levi recounted how he himself began hearing about it. "I start getting these text messages from my friends, saying, 'What is going on? You didn't tell us any of this!' And I'm asking, 'What are you talking about?' I get this link emailed to me from my publicist. She goes, 'Just so you know…' I go check it out, and of course, on the bottom of that article there's all these comments, and every other article that spawned off of that and all the comments on those sites."For the rest, feel free to visit IGN.

source: www.supermanhomepage.com, Superman Homepage

LOS ANGELES - Tom Mankiewicz, the screenwriter of such James Bond films as "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Live and Let Die" and the first two "Superman" movies, has died in Los Angeles at 68.

Mankiewicz died Saturday at his home after battling cancer. He underwent the Whipple operation, which is used to treat pancreatic cancer, three months ago.

A cause of death was not immediately known.

He was a member of Hollywood's legendary Mankiewicz family: His father was Joseph L. Mankiewicz, director of classics including "All About Eve," "A Letter to Three Wives" and "The Barefoot Contessa." He was also the nephew of "Citizen Kane" co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz.

Tom Mankiewicz directed the 1987 movie "Dragnet," starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks, and several episodes of the TV series "Hart to Hart."

His cousin, Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz, said Monday that Tom Mankiewicz was in good spirits when they had lunch last week and was looking forward to returning this fall to Chapman University in Orange, Calif., where he taught filmmaking to graduate students.

"He was hopeful," Ben Mankiewicz said. "He left lunch in a very good mood. He told stories about John Wayne and Michael Curtiz, and how he was going to get me to appreciate John Ford's `The Searchers' more."

The Palm restaurant, where he ate daily, held his regular booth empty Monday in his honor.

Mankiewicz began his career as an assistant director on Curtiz's last film, "The Comancheros" in 1961, in which Wayne starred.

In 1970, he was hired to rewrite "Diamonds Are Forever," which was the beginning of a longtime association with the Broccoli family and the Bond franchise. He also wrote "The Man With the Golden Gun" and made uncredited contributions to "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker."

Director Richard Donner asked Mankiewicz to rewrite and condense the scripts for 1978's "Superman" and the 1980 sequel "Superman II," for which he received credit as a creative consultant but not as a writer.

"Making `Superman' was only possible because when Tom came in, he brought his sense of humor and brought those characters to life," Donner said in a family statement. "A lot of people in this town have `the gift of gab.' Tom's was unique; there was always a true emotional center."

Mankiewicz again went by the "creative consultant" credit on "Hart to Hart," which aired from 1979-84, even though he was a writer and director on the series.

"I don't think it's easy trying to succeed in Hollywood as a Mankiewicz, and especially as Joe Mankiewicz's son," Ben Mankiewicz said of the four-time Oscar winner. "But Tom carved out his own sort of realm of success, and I think it was pretty impressive."

Tom Mankiewicz is survived by his brother Christopher, a film producer; his sister, Alexandra; his nephew, Jason; and many cousins working in film, television or journalism.

Comic Book Resources caught up with John Schneider for an interview about the final season of Smallville. Not many spoilers are involved, but there is some perspective on his portrayal in past and future episodes. On Tom Welling learning to play Superman, he remarks:

At first, you don't know what's going on and you're kind of like a sponge absorbing things and I watched him do that. It was great to see someone who was not only eager, but willing to learn how to do television. It's a tough thing to do. For the rest of the interview, visit CBR.


source: www.supermanhomepage.com, Superman Homepage

Digital Spy posted an interview today featuring Jay Baruchel regarding the rumored/cancelled Justice League movie. According to the interview, there were big plans, but ultimately the film was limited by the size of undertaking it would have involved (caution, strong but censored language):

What was the problem?
"The problem was that, had it gone to production, it would have been the single most expensive movie in the history of movies. Sometimes people are reticent to spend upwards of $300 million. It was a fun two weeks in Sydney and I got to hang out with one of my idols, George Miller."

Did you get as far as seeing the Justice League heroes in costume?
"I did. My friends, who were training to be Batman and Superman, they were down there for three months training and going to Weta in New Zealand to get their costumes. Weta, which is arguably the greatest special effects house on Earth, they had to cancel everything else. They were doing nothing but our movie. It was going to be f**king dope!"For the rest of the interview, visit the original article.

source: www.supermanhomepage.com, Superman Homepage

As in the "JLU" episode "Clash", actor Jerry O'Connell will be voicing Captain Marvel in the upcoming cartoon short "Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam". Between the cartoon short, "Young Justice", and "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" , the Big Red Cheese is getting quite a workout. Could all this magic lightning revive the live-action film? Stay tuned - and now let's talk TV.

This Friday on "Smallville" it's "Checkmate" at 8 PM on the CW. All the Smallville action is best viewed on lcd televisions, making your watching experience so much more enjoyable. Reruns also air three hours each weekday on HD-Net.

Superman: The Animated Series" airs Sunday at 2 AM on DXD.

Dean Cain ("Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" and Dr. Curtis Knox on "Smallville" episode "Cure") co-stars with Eric Roberts (Mongul on "JL" and "JLU") in "Breakaway" Wednesday at 4:20 PM and Thursday at 9:50 AM on Encore Mystery.

Superman picture a site fully dedicated to pictures of superman. The site has collections of superman picture, superman logo, superman myspace layout,superman wallpaper, a free superman game. For superman lovers, there are even superman online slots to keep you entertained for hours.