While roaming the incredibly packed show floor at the New York Comic-Con, Toon Zone News heard a few tidbits of news from a variety of sources:
– Lions Gate repeated that Ultimate Avengers 2 would be coming to DVD this summer. They also promised Foodfight!, a new animated feature film coming in 2007-2008, and their continuing Barbie and Care Bears CGI home video titles.
– Hirameki International will soon be bringing interactive “Visual Novels” from Japan to the United States. The hybrid game/movie/graphic novels are wildly popular in Japan, but have yet to penetrate the Japanese market. Their first release, Animamundi Dark Alchemist, will be released on March 10.
– While signing at the King Features booth, writer/artist Mark Schultz (currently working on the Prince Valiant comic strip) stated that there didn’t seem to be any interest in releasing the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs animated TV series on DVD. He also promised that he was working on a way to make it financially viable to finish the story left hanging in his Xenozoic Tales comic book, on which Cadillacs and Dinosaurs was based.
– DK Publishing was showing a mockup of their Ultimate Guide to Conan, coming soon. Unfortunately, the book will not be able to include material from the upcoming animated Conan: Red Nails direct-to-video movie.
– Jovial cartoonist Phil Foglio lamented that nobody has picked up the animation rights to his Girl Genius comic, though he’s still hoping. Other artists seeking animation deals include Sean Wang, whose sci-fi action comic book Runners was just turned into a short film by the students at DAVE; and Danielle Corsetto, creator of the Girls with Slingshots webcomic.
– Slave Labor Graphics promised that Gargoyles fans won’t be disappointed by the upcoming comic book series. They also wanted to remind animation fans that their new Tron and Haunted Mansion comics are at comic book shops now, and their Wonderland comic is debuting in April.
– Justice League Adventures and The Batman Strikes! writer Matthew K. Manning stated that he would be working on the latest issue of Marvel Romance Redux, which will be solicited next month for release in May. He also added that he was working on a comic with Mark Badger for the ACLU, which will be available on college campuses. Finally, he also noted that his unpublished graphic novella God in a Can (about an apartment with a string-telephone to God) is about to make its debut as a short film, but that he hadn’t seen it yet.