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It sounded like a terrible idea then, when director Tim Burton cast Nic Cage as The Man of Steel for his take on Supes (screenplay by Kevin Smith as well!), and it’s evident now just how bad the movie would have been now that test shots of Nic Cage in the Superman outfit have been discovered. 

“A Japanese Tim Burton fan site, however, seems to be blowing the whole thing open again… if you believe the site’s legitimacy. They have a picture that seems to show a Nic Cage costume test for “Superman Lives,” although the suit he’s wearing bears little resemblance to the aforementioned concept art we’ve seen online. This photo features an odd, squished “S” on the chest, a hard plastic suit, and a large section of what looks like flesh-colored material towards his neck,” writes Drew Taylor.  “It’s only one photo and devoid of context it’s just another piece of oddball “Superman Lives” ephemera, but it’s still fun to think about what this project would have ended up becoming.” 

From the looks of the autopsy photo above, it’s possible Cage was actually set to play Eradicator.  We know the title was Superman Lives (Smith’s script is easily found online for your reading pleasure) and so it’s not unreasonable to assume it would have been based on the death and resurrection of the iconic character.  [via]

Alex Mitchell created this cool DC comics Justice League of America image, with the super heroes morphing into 1920’s crime busters.  There’s even a decent back story as well.  [via]

DC Comics and Warner Brothers are debuting the animated film in it’s entirety at San Diego Comic Con. It looks good and should certainly hold over fans awaiting Ryan Reynolds turn as Hal Jordan in Martin Campbell’s live action go’round.

Here, we get Christopher Meloni, who does a good job as Hal. Animation is spot on and how can you complain about an origin movie that gives The Green Lantern his ring within the first five minutes of the movie.

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.

I find these superhero toy parodies of the PC/Mac commercials fairly odd yet engrossing. It started as a Marvel vs. DC Comics thing. It’s a tiny internet meme, but one who’s appeal seems tapped into a very dry geeky humor. We’re talkin’ champagne dry here.

So Hellboy’s been added to the mix, except he’s with Dark Horse Comics (Milwaukie, OR!). It would have been nice if they made a Hancock toy and he could have shown up all drunk and then it would have featured every superhero from this summer, excluding Wall-E of course. Maybe the creators of this could work on that.

DC Comics has decided to bridge the gap between Batman Begins and this summer’s follow-up The Dark Knight with a direct-to-DVD anime styled Batman adventure.

The Gotham Knight will follow six intertwining Batman adventures (from six different writers and animators). Among those writers participating are David Goyer (Batman Begins), Josh Olson (A History of Violence), Greg Rucka (Gotham Central), Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets), Jordan Goldberg (The Prestige), Alan Burnett (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm); with the whole shegang overseen by director Bruce Timm. Timm, who may recall, was responsible for what is revered as the purest incarnation of the Batman character ever – Batman The Animated Series. [opening segment]

The promo below really plays up Batman’s detective roots, which has been sorely lacking in all of the bigscreen adaptations of the character. However, it still makes it a point to indulge in the infamous rogues gallery. Christian Bale will be voicing this animated character.

Difficult to tell from the promo what the stories will be or if they’ll be any good, but the animation looks very cool. I’d actually be in favor of doing a bloody and violent cartoon rendition of Batman with this style of animation.

The animation for this series is being handled by three of Japan’s most popular animation production houses, which will create different looks for each short. These three companies are Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire), Madhouse (Metropolis, Paprika, Vampire Hunter D), and Studio 4°C (Mind Game, Tekkon Kinkreet, The Animatrix).

The DVD will come out sometime close to the July 18 release of The Dark Knight, but you can look forward to more info on February 26 when DC’s latest animated project Justice League: The New Frontier hits stores. It contains a sneak peek featurette on Gotham Knight.

Darwyn Cooke’s 2004 DC Comic book chronicled the early years of the Justice League, which was supposedly formed during the back drop of the years leading up to the JFK administration.

I believe the illustrations for the book were done by Alex Ross, who really creates these timeless, mythological looking characters, very reminiscent of the golden days of comics.   Hopefully, that style will carry over to the movie.  The voice talents are impressive as well with Kyle Maclachlan as Superman, Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman, David Boreanaz as Hal Jordan (The Green Lantern), Jeremy Sisto as Batman and Neil Patrick Harris as The Flash.

Pretty dope.  This one hits the direct to DVD market in the Spring of 2008.