Light fans, rejoice–VIZ Pictures will be screening the live-action adaptation of Death Note at a theater near you on May 20th and May 21st. You can purchase advance tickets by visiting www.FathomEvents.com. For more information about the movie, check out Senior Ninja Consultant Erin F.’s review of Death Note and its sequel, Death Note: The Last Name, both of which were screened at last year’s New York Asian Film Festival. Still need convincing? Then here’s the trailer:

… which should come as no surprise, since the guy who wrote it is a Hollywood screenwriter.

If you just can’t get enough Death Note, you’ll be happy to learn that VIZ Media will be bringing the live action Death Note films to a movie theater near you on May 20th and 21st. Still on the fence about going? Then check out Ninja Consultant Erin F.’s review of the two Death Note films, which she saw at last year’s New York Asian Film Festival.

Read on for the official press release. (Continued)

Hunter’s Moon TP

The two-time GCA nominee gets a trade paperback this week.

Also this week:
Batman and the Outsiders #6. Cover by Braithwaite.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #2 (of 12). Jamal Igle joins the book as regular penciller.
Perhapanauts #1. The first issue of the new series, now at Image.
The 99 #7
Archie & Friends #118. Written by Simmons.
Great Figures in History: Nelson Mandela GN

I had an unbelievably busy weekend, so I wasn’t able to write a Sunday Review. But I am a little more than a third of the way through The Hole, the graphic novel I told you about a few weeks ago, so I expect to finish it and write a review of it for next Sunday.

I won’t be able to attend the New York Comic-Con this year due to other plans, but I hope you have a great time if you’re attending. And don’t forget to bring your kids on Sunday, which will be Kids Day, an event made possible by Kids Comic Con founder Alex Simmons.

This year’s Eisner Award nominations are up. Complete list is here, but of interest to us:

Best Continuing Series and Best New Series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Georges Jeanty, and Andy Owens (Dark Horse)

Best Publication for Teens
Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso (Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion)

Best Reality-Based Work
Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso (Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion)
Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm, by Percy Carey and Ronald Wimberly (Vertigo/DC)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
Aya, by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Obrerie (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Writer
James Sturm, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow (Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion)

Best Writer/Artist-Humor
Kyle Baker, The Bakers: Babies and Kittens (Image)

Best Lettering
Jared K. Fletcher, Catwoman, The Spirit (DC); Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm (Vertigo/DC)

Congrats to all the nominees. The Eisner Awards will be held July 25 during Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Here’s a new Raven Gregory interview.

First look at Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus in Frank Miller’s The Spirit.

And oh, by the way - the votes for the Glyph Comics Awards are in. This year was an incredibly competitive race, and that is definitely reflected in the big winners. Expect a surprise or two.

The Rock might be in GI Joe.

Ving Rhames will be in The Surrogates.

Another Terrence Howard interview about Iron Man.

A family emergency kept me from posting yesterday. Sorry for the delay. (I had a really good April Fool’s gag planned, too. Maybe next year…)

Voting in the Fan Award in the Glyph Comics Awards is now closed. Thanks to everyone who voted. The entire GCA ceremony is set for Friday, May 16 as part of ECBACC 2008. Throughout this month we’ll take a look at all the nominees for this year in all ten categories.

The Kids Comic Con was quite good. I believe I had mentioned here the possibility of an awards program to coincide with the show; unfortunately, that never got off the ground, at least this year. Thanks once again to Alex Simmons for all his work in putting the show together, and don’t forget - Sunday is Kids Day at the New York Comic Con, which Alex is also a part of. Publishers Weekly has a report on the KCC.

Mohawk Media has already announced an upcoming Mr. T graphic novel. Following this book will be a series of “Versus” crossover comics, the first of which will pit the 80’s TV icon against none other than Dracula:

Explaining the series, author Christopher Bunting says: ‘When I proposed these crossovers, Mohawk Media jumped at the chance and went to great lengths to make them happen. Who can blame them? Two legends … a living legend and an undead legend … going toe to toe. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that!’

Bunting continues: ‘Kicking – or should that be biting – off the series is Dracula. How is someone as devious as him going to handle someone as straight talking as Mr. T? And as powerful as Dracula is, he’s not met anyone as tough as Mr. T before!’

As Mr. T says in the story: ‘All these suckers with their fancy powers! They need a reality check, and only one guy can do that, and that’s me, Mr. T!’

‘Ain’t no difference if they’re a vampire, a dinosaur, a mutant, if they’re doing wrong, then it needs Mr. T to set things straight with a swift right!’

Although many details of Mr. T Versus are being kept closely guarded, Mohawk Media has offered an exclusive glimpse into the series at: http://www.mohawkmedia.co.uk/mrtversus.htm

The Mr. T Limited Advance Edition graphic novel is available at Mohawk’s site and will also be available on Amazon beginning this Friday.

More pics and a new website for Will Smith’s Hancock.

South African cartoonist Zapiro gets an honorary doctorate.

I can’t get the link to this Georges Jeanty interview to open for me, so you’ll have to go through Heidi to get to it. Scroll down about a little more than halfway.

Terrence Howard talks Iron Man.

Fox Searchlight has hired Edwin Freeman (Across the Universe, Inside Man) to play the role of Mister Cee in the upcoming movie Notorious, a biopic of the life and death of Christopher Wallace. Freeman joins Angela Bassett (Meet the Browns, How Stella Got Her Groove Back) as Voletta Wallace, Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher, Biker Boyz) as Diddy, Anthony Mackie (We Are Marshall, She Hate Me) thugging it out as Tupac, and Jamal Woolard as The Notorious B.I.G. Naturi Naughton (3 Little Women) is rumored to star as Lil Kim.

Filming started last month on Notorious and the film is scheduled for release in 2009.

Formerly called “Starship Dave,” which was a way better title. (Link includes trailer.) I really, really HATE it when bland, generic titles replace clever, more interesting titles that usually provide a better indication of what a movie’s about. How would you know this is a sci-fi movie from that title?

I got home kinda late last night and didn’t feel like doing any posting. That’s why this is late.

Tangent: Superman’s Reign #1 (of 12)
interview with Tangent writer Dan Jurgens

First issue of this mini that continues the stories of the parallel earth where Superman’s a black guy, among many other changes. (BTW, Jamal Igle takes over as penciller beginning with the second issue.)

Also this week:
Batman and the Outsiders #5. Cover by Braithwaite.
Justice League of America #19, Avengers Classic #10. Written by McDuffie.
Everybody’s Dead #1. Zombie mayhem on the campus in this new mini illustrated by Dave Crosland.

Glyph Comics Awards news: Jamar Nicholas is returning as host this year. I’ve sent out a statement announcing it; hopefully you’ll see it turn up on the comics blogs or elsewhere. He’s a terrific guy and the perfect one to host the show, so I’m glad to see him back. Also, ECBACC has updated their website.

Cheryl lays the smack down on DC for the Vixen whitewash. Valerie provides her two cents as well. I don’t see any way DC can spin this. From what I can tell, this goes beyond a coloring mistake; it looks a lot like the artist was not told Vixen was a black woman. And that makes you wonder what the editor of this book is smoking. Either s/he wasn’t aware of this basic fact, which makes you question what they’re doing editing a DC comic in the first place, or it was a deliberate mistake. Neither option looks very good. It’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder… like this guy does.

Also: Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s progeny are set to star in a new film based on a graphic novel.

And on a sad note… when I was still editor of UVC, I recruited a young woman named Sharvonique Fortune to write a piece for our Black Women in Comics issue about black women in animation. I’ve just been informed by my pal Jen Hachigan that her husband has suddenly died. Don’t know any details. My condolences go out to her and her family.

Watch it quick before someone takes it down!

In other news: part two of Tim Russ’ indy Star Trek film Of Gods and Men has a release date.