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Filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Mist, Shawshank Redemption) is developing the ongoing Image Comic The Walking Dead as a new series for cable channel AMC. 

And if the show approaches anything like the quality of supernova acclaimed shows “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” than fans of horrorifying zombies are in for a real treat.

Darabont has dabble in television before, previously developing a mini-series of The Thing and directing episodes of FX’s The Shield. 

Robert Kirkman’s comic series is best known for it’s shocking deaths, often-times axing off main characters without warning.  It is at heart, a survivalist story whereby a group of characters struggle to find food, shelter, and hope in a post-apocalyptic landscape populated by zombies.  Truly, it is the characters that make this series special.

It’s not as exciting as say the death of Superman or Captain America, but in 2009 seems like some were holding their breath waiting to discover whether Archie would choose Betty, Veronica or Jugghead. 

After 68-years you can breathe a sigh of relief because the pretty rich girl won!  Girl-next-door Betty didn’t stand a chance.  Also?  When did Jugghead turn into Clark Gable with a Burger King crown? From the looks of things he might be concocting a plan to win Archie’s heart and move to Massachusetts (Vermont, Iowa, Connecticut and New Hampshire are all applicable).

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln library has a digital archive of comics published by the U.S. government, dating back to the 1940s. The tiny thumbnails and pdfs are fairly annoying.  And by fairly, I mean, enough that I don’t imagine I’ll be digging deep into this beyond the superficiality coolness factor.   

Hopefully, the recently created Dark Horse comic archive at Portland State University will digitize their collection and improve upon University of Nebraska’s crummy UI.  [via Super Punch]

So the speculation can end, now that Action Comics number one has gone to auction and sold for the tidy sum of $317,200. Who placed the high bid? System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan, although he is a dealer of rare and vintage comics, and may have been bidding for a client.

The amount is one of the highest prices ever paid for a comic book, according to ComicConnect.com co-owner Stephen Fishler. “Maybe in a booming economy, it would have done a hundred grand more,” Fishler commented, “but in this economy, I think the price is great.”

Action Comics number one really is the holy grail, so to speak, and finding a copy today is hard to do. The $317,000 issue was originally picked up in the early 1950s for 35 cents, meaning the appreciation on the collectible is a lot.  Love that fuzzy math.

The price reflects a new record: Flash Comics #1 brought a staggering $273,125 in 2006.

[via Get the Big Picture]

In April 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduced Superman to the masses and Hollywood has been trying to make a decent Supes movie ever since.  Har, har. 

The Man of Steel first appeared in Action Comics #1, and today it’s almost impossible to find a copy of the book. This is akin to a rare baseball card, but it’s pop cultural significance is that much greater.  Superheros weren’t invented with Superman, but in terms of iconography there may be no greater creation. 

Strange things do happen, and the valuable issue — in good condition, no less — has come to light. (The owner purchased it in 1960 when he was 9 years old. It cost him 35 cents.)

The book goes up for auction Feb. 27 on ComicConnect.com. Bidding starts at $1.  There’s no telling how high it will go, but Action Comics #1 is estimated to be worth $126,000 in “fine condition.” So extrapolate what you will from that.  Experts expect it to sell for more. 

Depending on how the bidding goes, it wouldn’t surprise me if this sold for mid-six-figures.  The auction closes on March 13.  If, like me, you can only dream of such a precious collectors item, you can always read the comic online.

Now that Marvel has wrested control of their film properties comic book geeks are beginning to see the dividends with the formation of the Marvel Universe on film. We saw this first with Iron Man where at the end Nick Fury makes an appearance and mentions The Avengers and now with next weeks The Incredible Hulk we are seeing a crossover with Tony Stark.

It was supposed to be a non-secret that Tony Stark would appear briefly in the film, but with the success of Iron Man, Marvel is wasting no opportunity to cash in on that success and parlay it to help out The Incredible Hulk. Will it work? Maybe, but it’s great to see Tony Stark appear in the film and with all the easter eggs dropped throughout the latest Marvel adventure it is obvious they are building towards an Avengers movie with all of these characters appearing in one film.

The Incredible Hulk smashes into theaters on June 13.

He’s the genius that all story tellers bow down to. Comic book artist Alan Moore has the third part of his exceptional League of Extraordinary Gentleman due Nov. 14 from Wildstorm Comics. Most people will only remember the crappy Sean Connery movie and that would be a shame.

These are exceptional stories, wildly inventive and incredibly R-Rated material (look no further than in the second part when Mr. Hyde raped and killed the Invisible Man). For those of you scratching your heads, basically what Alan Moore does is imagine a Victorian era London where literature characters form the first superhero team. He takes characters such as Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde, Allen Quartermain, Mina Harker, etc. as they thwart the dasterly plans of an archenemy.

It’s all great, pulpy story telling. EW has a preview of the latest installment, including five pages to oogle. With such rich detail crammed into every page, you’ll want to oogle. Trust us.

Titled Black Dossier, the book marks the last League yarn to be published by Wildstorm; the prickly Moore, who’s had some long-standing beefs with Wildstorm’s parent, DC Comics, is taking the property to Top Shelf, which will release a new miniseries next year. (But believe it when you see it: Moore and O’Neill are notorious slowpoke perfectionists.) With anticipation high in fanboy quarters, EW.com is proud to bring you this exclusive First Look of Black Dossier.

What you need to know: The story is set in an alternative-history England roughly 50 years after the Martian invasion of 1898. Quatermain and Murray, both strangely younger than when we saw them previous (and they were quite old back then — like, liver-spotted and wrinkled-prune old), are trying to track down a mysterious book that contains secrets about their League adventures and revelations about other League teams throughout history. Natch, there are some baddies who are desperate to make sure the dynamic duo fail in their quest.

Sounds good to us. Black Dossier hits shelves on Nov. 14.