A Preview of Things To Come?

This is gonna be a bunch of news cramed together so lets get started... Jim Lee noted last week on his blog that he's started work on an all new ongoing Batman title called All Star Batman & Robin set to debut in July. This coincides with the new Batman Begins movie starring Christian Bale, due in June (which you might hear/see something about at this year's Superbowl...). The writer behind this new series? None other than the man who modernized Batman in 1986 with The Dark Knight Returns & Batman:Year One stories... Frank Miller! This is going to be a hotseller so defintely keep checking here for the lastest. Click here for the online interview with Newsarama. Here's DC's official statement:

Superstar artist Jim Lee will be joined by legendary writer and Batman visionary Frank Miller on DC's upcoming ALL-STAR: BATMAN AND ROBIN. The series, scheduled to make its debut later this year, marks Miller's first work on the Dark Knight since 2001's acclaimed THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN, and Lee's return to Batman following 2002's best-selling "Hush" storyline in BATMAN.

"If there was one creator I wanted to work with when I was a fan, it would have been Frank Miller," says Lee, "so after this project, I think I'm going to be ready to retire! Seriously, it will be the pinnacle of my career so far, and I can't wait to get started. Frank and I have had a couple of meetings about the story, and it's going to rock!"
Miller says, "This is Dick Grayson's initiation and he's dealing with a very stern teacher. Batman is a hard teacher — unforgiving. Brutal. At the same time, Grayson is watching Batman come into his full power. Me and Jim Lee get to play with all of DC's toys. It'll be a romp. It'll be a lot of fun. I plan on raiding DC's treasury of characters. There won't be a Black Canary or a Wonder Woman unused."

"This is quite an honor and, needless to say, a fairly daunting task that DC has bestowed upon me by handing me the helm of ALL-STARS," says Group Editor Bob Schreck. "Being able to help these incredibly talented creators bring their amazing tales to life on the comics page is going to be one heck of a ride, no doubt. I can't wait until the readers get to see what's in store for them."

"Frank was instrumental in redefining Batman for a new generation, and I, for one, can't wait to see him bring that same level of clarity and interpretation to Dick Grayson and Robin," says Dan DiDio, VP — Executive Editor, DCU. "With the teams now set for the two ALL-STAR books, BATMAN AND ROBIN and SUPERMAN, everyone should agree that they meet the expectations set for these series: All Star creators working on iconic versions of our All Star characters — it doesn't get much better than this."

Stars newly named to Superman Returns, which opens in 2006 are Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane & Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor in addition to Brandon Routh who plays Superman/Clark Kent. It seems this movie takes place after Superman comes back from space. Director Bryan Singer said he didnt want to mess with Richard Donner's 1978 film Superman or the WB's Smallville.

In other movie news Marvel's Elektra is set to open this Friday... Yahoo has the first 5 minutes here . Warner Bros. also has a Hi-Def trailer for "Batman Returns". 2005's first major comic convention, Wonder-Con, takes place at the Moscone Convention Center in San Fransisco on February 18th through 20th. For more details go to the Comic-Con website. Also, check out this awesome Jeph Loeb interview with CBR about about the new ongoing Supergirl series this summer.