Comics Briefly March 11

-- Publishers Weekly, 3/10/2008 5:18:00 PM

Bone movie rights go to Warner Bros.
According to reports in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, Jeff Smith's Bone fantasy series has been optioned by Warner Bros. for a feature film. Producer Dan Lin, who is also involved with the upcoming Justice League movie, will oversee. Bone originally ran as a self published comic from 1991-2004, and is currently being published in color by Scholastic, where it has sold more than 1 million copies. Whether the movie will be animated or live action has not yet been decided.

Stephen King on NPR
Stephen King will be on NPR’s Talk of the Nation on Wednesday March 12^th from 2:30 to 3 PM EST. King will discuss the launch of Dark Tower Vol. 2: The Long Road Home, which will be released in November 2008. The first volume Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born is on stores. More information about Dark Tower can be found at the Marvel website. The broadcast of Talk of the Nation will be available, after the initial airing, on the NPR website.

Marvel Comics on Facebook
Marvel has launched a digital comics application on Facebook. The online subscription service, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, can be explored using the application. The application can be downloaded at the Marvel page on Facebook.

GNs in Schools and Libraries
John Shableski, a manager at Diamond Book Distributors who focuses on marketing to schools and public libraries, has a post up on the blog Buzz, Balls & Hype examining the use of graphic novels in schools and public libraries. Shableski discusses panels on graphic novels at the National Council of Teachers of English convention in New York City last November, his recent work with the New York Department of Education, and the upcoming SPLAT 2008 graphic novel symposium on March 15^th.

Shaman Warrior Online
Dark Horse is releasing its award winning manhwa series, Shaman Warrior, online. A chapter will be released weekly, having started on February 22^nd. The first chapter can be found at the Dark Horse website.

Street Fighter Book and Contest
To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Street Fighter franchise, Udon Entertainment is releasing a full-color art book, Street Fighter Tribute. The book will be released at San Diego Comic Con. Udon is holding an art contest for the book; artists and fans can submit artwork of Street Fighter characters for possible inclusion in the book. Full guidelines and rules for the competition can be found at the Udon website.

2008 Web Cartoonists Choice Awards
The winners of the 2008 Web Cartoonists Choice Awards have been announced. Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio won the Outstanding Comic Award. A full list of the winners can be found at the WCCA’s website.

Paul Pope in Wall Street Journal
Cartoonist Paul Pope's effort in both print and fashion design were profiled in the Wall Street Journal recently. The article includes a video and information on Pope's designs for DKNY.