SupermanHawaii.com

by Lawrence E. Pacheco

On the heels of the stunning announcement of Disney's purchase of Marvel, Warner Bros. unveiled this month its plans to restructure DC Comics into the all new DC Entertainment, Inc., and was formed to "fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms". With this move, DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz has been asked to step down, a position he's held since 2002, and assume a both old and new role as writer, contributing editor, and "overall consultant to DCE".

Accepting the position as President of the new DC Entertainment, Inc. is Diane Nelson, who was President of Warner Premiere, a division of Warner Bros., that handled all direct-to-DVD productions, since 2006. She brings to the table her two decades of expertise in "creative brand management, strategic marketing and content development and production".

The reaction to the news was mixed. "It's long overdue," said Ted Mays, owner and manager of Gecko Books & Comics in Kaimuki. "If they had done this years ago we probably wouldn't have had the Halle Berry Catwoman movie. She (Diane) understands the importance of the heritage. She's proven that at her previous job." Others, though, expressed concern for the future of DC. Avid comicbook enthusiast Kamuela Kaneshiro said, "Warner should remember that DC is 'Detective Comics'. I feel that they might be getting away from their roots."

In the official Warner Bros. press release, Warner seems to ensure the public that DC Comics will, indeed, remain intact. "The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment," the press release says, "releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry."

What does this mean for the feature films and animated movies and series already in the works? Diane Nelson said that the newly formed DC Entertainment plans to "maximize every opportunity to bring DC's unrivalled collection of titles and characters to life." Still on the DC movie and television slate: the "Human Target" television series, "Midnight Mass" television series, "Jonah Hex" feature film which is now in post-production, "The Losers" action-adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, the Guy Ritchie feature film "Lobo", and the highly anticipated "Green Lantern" film to star Ryan Reynolds.

As DC Comics prepares to celebrate its 75th Anniversary next year, comicbook fans everywhere will all be waiting with eager, fearful, excited anticipation during this next step in its evolution.

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