KYLE PICCOLO: COMIC SHOP THERAPIST

“Problems with your personal life? Frustrated at work? Suspect that you might have a mutant power? Fear not, as all of these issues, and so many more, will be addressed by…Kyle Piccolo: Comic Shop Therapist.” Shot on location at Midtown Comics, this web series focuses on comic book store “therapist” Kyle Piccolo and his ability to find the answer to personal problems in the pages of a comic book. The first five episodes, produced by For Your Imagination, are exclusively sponsored by Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Dark Knight. Kyle Piccolo: Comic Shop Therapist is the brainchild of writer/director Neil Turitz, For Your Imagination’s Chief Creative Officer Alec Pollak, actor/writer Eric Zuckerman (starring in the title role) and superstar artist John Cassaday.

HELLBOY II IN THEATERS NEXT WEEK

Hellboy II arrives in theaters next Friday (July 11th), and the movie is receiving excellent advanced buzz. The Golden Army is once again helmed by Guillermo Del Torro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Blade II), who returns to direct the continuing adventures of Hellboy and The BPRD. Following Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and Wanted (and coming out just ahead of The Dark Knight), Hellboy II looks to be the next hit in the “Summer of The Comic Book Movie.”

STEVE NILES AT MIDTOWN COMICS JULY 17TH

Only two more weeks until our next great signing at Midtown! On Thursday July 17th from 4:00 – 6:00, Midtown Comics will welcome Steve Niles to our Times Square store where he will be signing his new graphic novel from Zune Arts, The Lost Ones. CLICK HERE to find out more about The Lost Ones and to see a short video focusing on the creative collaboration between Niles and the book's four vastly diverse artists. And be sure to make it down on July 17th to meet the writer of such books as Gotham After Midnight, Simon Dark, Dead She Said, City of Others, Criminal Macabre and, of course, 30 Days of Night, the series that spawned the hit movie.

ROSE MCGOWAN AS RED SONJA

Last week it was reported that Rose McGowan will be starring in a new film adaptation of Red Sonja. The film will be produced by McGowan’s Planet Terror director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, El Mariachi, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn). The film is expected to focus on the origin of the She-Devil With A Sword, the character created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith (which in turn is based on Robert E. Howard’s Red Sonya). A 2010 release date is expected.

RUTU MODAN IN NY TIMES

This past Sunday, The New York Times “Funny Pages” began serializing The Murder of The Terminal Patient by Rutu Modan. Modan, a highly regarded Israeli comics creator, is probably best known to American readers for her excellent graphic novel Exit Wounds, which was named on many lists as one of the best comics of 2007. Modan’s strip follows Low Moon by Jason (Pocket Full of Rain, The Left Bank Gang), which just finished its sixteenth installment.

PAUL POPE PREVIEW

From The Beat, we find this link to a preview of Paul Pope’s Battling Boy. The project by the Batman Year One Hundred creator will be published by First Second. Battling Boy is a young readers book aimed at kids and is described as “kind of a fairytale kid Beowulf, or a Peter Pan with teeth.”

PUNISHER POSTER PICS

Again from The Beat, we find these images of the promotion posters from Lionsgate Films for the upcoming Punisher movie. The film, starring Rome’s Ray Stevenson, will be called Punisher: War Zone. Hoping that the third time is the charm for this Marvel property, the film is scheduled for a December release.

FINCHER DEVELOPING GOON CGI

One last quick item before we get to this week’s new releases. (We know that’s a lot of “news” for one week, but we didn’t even have a chance to mention Dynamite’s plans for Judge Dredd and The Phantom, or the news that Warren Ellis is writing GI Joe web cartoons.) David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en) is developing a CG-animation film version of The Goon. Mr. Fincher has also apparently been developing a film of Torso by Brian Michael Bendis.