Dynamite announced their revival of the character - created in 1954 by Captain America's fathers Joe Simon and Jack Kirby - at last month's San Diego Comic-Con, but it took a story about the revival at Comic Book Resources to get Simon upset about the news. According to a press release from Simon's son, Jim,

Simon turned down Dynamite's proposal in no uncertain terms. Apparently [Dynamite owner, Nick] Barrucci did not know the meaning of the word no and he proceeded anyway.

That same press release says that the artwork that accompanied the CBR story was produced without permission, and Joe Simon told Newsarama.com that the project was "announced without his approval or participation."

Not exactly so, says Paul S. Levine, attorney for the estate of co-creator Jack Kirby. He told Newsarama.com that Simon's own attorney, Tedd Kessler,

had been informed and approving of negotiations between himself and Nick Barrucci regarding the Fighting American "from the very beginning" and every step of the way for several months prior to the Comic-Con announcement, including the drafting of contracts for the deal between Dynamite, the Kirby Estate, and Simon, unsigned at the time of the announcement.

For now, the Fighting American revival is dead - Not only has Simon distanced himself from the project, but the Kirby estate has also pulled out "in observance of Joe Simon's wishes and due in part to the strong language being used by Simon in condemning it," according to Levine (They're still working with Dynamite on projects involving characters owned solely by the Kirby estate, however). But what happened? Was Simon's attorney unaware of his client's "in no uncertain terms" refusal? Did Simon's released statement feature some embellishment on a last-minute change of heart? And why was the project announced before contracts had been signed, anyway? We may never know... but we're already wondering how long it'll be before we hear about a new Fighting American deal, and from whom.

Kirby Estate Responds to Simon On FIGHTING AMERICAN [Newsarama.com]

Originally announced in a press release earlier this week, Dynamite's new Robocop series will be an ongoing monthly comic that will, apparently,

continue to explore more of the dangers of Detroit, its citizens, and Officer Murphy's continued dealings with the scum that stalks the streets — all the while missing his human side.

Dynamite president Nick Barrucci talked to Newsarama.com about whether we should expect something along the lines of the original movie, or the something-we'd-rather-forget Robocop 3:

[W]ithout saying too much, I will say that going to the root of a character is usually a good idea, building on that, taking away some of the layers that were built over the years – while it's the most difficult thing in the world picking and choosing what is canon and what isn't. You make decisions and hope you're right... I think that that I can come out and say that without the violence, the cutting edge shockingly violent nature of the first movie we wouldn't be talking about RoboCop. We want the first RoboCop movie [and] that's what made it so great.



The series, written by British writer Rob Williams (2000AD, Star Wars), will launch later this year.

Nick Barrucci on RoboCop & Writer Rob Williams [Newsarama.com]

In many ways, Buck feels like a mixture of the ill-fated 2007 Flash Gordon SciFi Channel series and Geoff Johns' Green Lantern reboot for DC Comics - and not just because it's about halfway less successful than GL and more successful than Flash. Like Flash, it tries its best to update the classic concept as quickly as possible in order to get to the action that everyone's expecting but, in doing so, reduces almost every character involved to cyphers that it's hard to sympathize with, in situations that aren't entirely clear and feel more like the result of a writer trying to make everything seem exciting and eventful from the word go than anything convincing or organic. Not the best start to a story, really.

And yet, there's something about Scott Beatty's Anthony "Buck" Rogers - the nickname comes from his bucking authority, we're told - that appeals, despite the flatness that surrounds him in the 21st century; he's written, pretty much, as the same anti-authority hero (and, to an extent, macho jerk) that has been a science fiction staple since Harrison Ford first talked about how fast his starship was, and making him a pilot brings to mind Johns' Hal Jordan very quickly. It's not a bad idea, and helps the contemporary scenes pass relatively painlessly. Even if he isn't any more fleshed out than anyone else around him, he still seems more... exciting, perhaps? more interesting, at least, and someone we're willing to follow around for awhile.

The story really becomes interesting as Buck ends up in the future, but again, that's not because of the characterization. No, this time it's the laser-toting cyborg bears that make things ridiculous enough to be entertaining, and mysterious enough to keep reading. Although we don't learn why they have lasers or who or what made them cyborgs by the end of the issue - although we do learn that they can talk, of course - the very fact of their existence suggests enough of a sense of humor that's been lacking in the rest of the issue that bodes well for future stories.

Deciding to stay on with Buck as he discovers more of the 26th century is, at this point, as much an act of faith as anything else; faith in writer Scott Beatty and artist Carlos Rafael, but also in publisher Dynamite Entertainment. And it's that last one that is the most powerful, perhaps - Dynamite have managed to successfully breathe new life into The Lone Ranger and Zorro, so why not Buck? He may seem quaint and old-fashioned in this day and age, but that's not necessarily a drawback: he's always been a man out of time, after all.

Buck Rogers #1 is available now.

The issue starts right in with an unconscious Buck Rogers being held captive by the aforementioned giant alien amoebas, the Ganymedians from (you guessed it) Ganymede. They're planning to absorb (ie, eat) him, but as it turns out, Buck was only playing dead, because it seems that, much like Chuck Norris, he doesn't sleep; he waits.

As it turns out, Commander Deering and a blond woman named Wynona (who may have briefly suggested that she's Buck's daughter, but don't quote me on that) are monitoring the mission, having sent Buck in as what he describes as "our 'Hail Mary' passage." And this blond, blue-eyed, five-o'-clock-shadowed Hail Mary goes in, guns blazing and fists flying. His internal monologue is a little John Wayne, a little John McClane, and a whole lot 21st century guy playing space cowboy four hundred years in his own future. It's exactly what you expect and it somehow fits the whole fighting lime-green blobs situation Buck's gotten himself into.

This situation, however, seems to be the sort that requires a bit of self-sacrifice on Buck's part, and we're left wondering if he's all right or not. Although, because I notice I've compared him to Chuck Norris, John Wayne, John McClane, all in the span of two paragraphs, I'm pretty much betting that he'll be all right.

Then again, the issue does end with: "This is The End . . . But for the Thrilling Beginning, Read Buck Rogers #1!" Good bit of advice. And if you're looking for the sort of alien-punching, cowboy-talking Buck Rogers action that this issue promises in the comics to come, I'd recommend giving it a look.

Written by Scott Beatty, art by Carlos Rafael. Color by Carlos Lopez. Buck Rogers #0 is on sale now.

Dynamite have announced that their Buck Rogers revival has had a surprisingly strong launch, with retailers ordering 75,000 copies of #0, a specially priced (25 cents) preview of the regular series. For comparison, the February sales chart shows that the top 10 comics sell between 148,778 copies (the tail-end of the Obama/Spider-Man craze) and 69,698, meaning that Buck's return is likely to be seen by more people than the X-Men, Spider-Man or entire Justice League of America.

To celebrate this, Dynamite's releasing the book earlier than intended; instead of its announced May launch, the book will be made available to retailers on April 22nd, meaning that it'll be around for this year's Free Comic Book Day crowds at the start of May. Here's hoping that the 75,000 readers like what they see.

Buck Rogers #0 Sales Top 75K [Newsarama.com]

The series, launching later this year (with a preview issue in May), revamps the character and mythos for a new century, but Ross' amazing cover manages to evoke old-school pulp covers without even breaking a sweat. If the rest of this series looks this good, we're completely on board.

Buck Rogers #1 by Cassaday and Ross [CBR]

After Diamond Distributors were sent a Cease and Desist order for distribution of the 15th, 16th and 17th issues of Devil Due's Hack/Slash series - Issues in which creator Tim Seeley's heroine Cassie Hack run into Stuart Gordon's version of Lovecraft's Herbert West as part of a storyline subtly titled "Cassie & Vlad Meet the Re-Animator" - publisher Devil's Due were informed that Diamond wouldn't be offering the issues to comic stores... which, due to the distributors' virtual monopoly on the market, meant that those issues wouldn't make it to comic stores at all (Diamond's Bill Schanes, Vice President of Purchasing, makes it clear that the decision was purely legal: "[W]e have been advised by Diamond's attorney's to not distribute issues #16 and #17 of the series Hack/Slash, plus process any additional reorders for #15 as well," he says in a press release on the subject).

The problem is apparently the question of who owns the right to offer merchandise on the Re-Animator movies. Brian Yuzna, producer of the movies, is somewhat surprised that it's not him:

Devil's Due have done a fantastic job of keeping the spirit of the Re-Animator films alive in the Hack/Slash cross-over... It has been a pleasure to collaborate with such a talented crew. And I am proud to be working with them after the admirable stand they have taken in the face of economic coercion. This company exemplifies the independent spirit of the genre film and comics community. It may seem crazy to Re-Animator fans to think that a company that had nothing to do with the classic films could actually claim ownership of the "Re-Animator" brand and threaten to stop anyone else from creating comics, films or merchandise with the word 'reanimator' or 're-animator' in it- even the actual producer of the films that created the brand—but in this wacky world that is exactly what has happened.

So who is this company that "had nothing to do with the classic films" that's causing the problem? That would be Re-Animator LLC, a company that filed for trademark on "Re-Animator" on April 20th, 2005 courtesy of lawyer Michael Lovitz - a man who's previously written a book about comic book trademark and copyright law and hosted a series of workshops at the San Diego Comic-Con called Comic Book Law School for years. While the identity of those behind Re-Animator LLC remains unconfirmed, Lovitz has also filed for many other trademarks over the years that have been related to comics published by Dynamite Entertainment (amongst them Jungle Girl, Savage Tales and characters from the Project Superpowers series) - a company that has published its own Re-Animator comics.

No matter whoever is behind the C&D order, Devil's Due isn't backing down. Company president Josh Blaylock:

We deliberated internally long and hard, but this was in good conscience not something I felt we could roll over and just accept. I've reviewed the facts, spoken to copyright, corporate and entertainment attorneys, and resolved that this, in my own personal opinion, is a ridiculous bully tactic that only hurts Tim [Seeley, Hack/Slash creator] and all of the creators who work so hard to make Hack/Slash the great book that it is and abuses the Diamond policy of staying out of legal issues.

The result? Devil's Due will be distributing the issues themselves directly to retailers, offering discounts of between 50 - 60% off cover price to those who choose to order from their website; post #17, the series will return to Diamond Distribution. But as for any future appearances of Herbert West...? Well, I'm sure the lawyers will do Lovecraft proud in terms of creative tortures necessary to make that happen.

[Devil's Due Publishing]

IDW's Saturday panel at Comic-Con also included Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall mentioning that the company was talking to various "big name" authors about a line of upcoming adaptations of classic science fiction novels. IDW's Ideas And Dreams [Comic Book Resources]