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In what appears to be a clear and obvious direct response to the Disney acquisition of Marvel, DC has announced today that it is restructuring. After a 40 year courtship, DC and Warner are going ahead with their merger!

Warner Bros., parent company of DC, has created DC Entertainment to better leverage the greater potential of DC Comcs properties across all media outlets. This new company will be headed by Diane Nelson.

From the release:

DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses. DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the Studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products. The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, 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.

Current President and Publisher of DC Comics, Paul Levitz, was effectively demoted back to editorial and writing roles. He has already been slated to work on Adventure Comics.

So what does this mean? Sounds like Warner and DC are actually merging for the first time since DC became a subsidiary of Warner in 1969. Warner has largely stayed out of DC Comics’ editorial decisions as near as I can tell with the expection of the DC Implosion. That being said, I didn’t do much research. Frankly, Marvel was managing to do more on their own, than what DC was able to do under Warner’s wing. We’ll see how this plays out with a non-editorial person in the top seat.

Obscenely long official press release can be seen after the jump

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San Diego Comic Con was this past weekend and lots of news poured out of the convention. Here is the first of several link round ups trying to recap on most of what went on. This article concentrates on movie announcements and panels. After the jump you’ll find plenty of links for Jonah Hex, Iron Man 2, Sherlock Holmes, Wanted 2 and much much more!
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Today marked the start of the pop culture mecca known as San Diego Comic-Con. To celebrate, Google swapped their logo with a rendition done by comic artist legend Jim Lee. Lee posted a link to a larger version on his twitter account @jimlee00. (see larger image after the jump)

Further, the Google blog announced new skins for iGoogle home pages featuring comic art by many known artists. Many of these skins are not just ‘superhero’ comic themed either, though there is plenty of that to go around, too. There happens to be a theme for ‘American Born Chinese’, a wonderful graphic novel I recommended back during the holiday season.

As SDCC progresses, we’ll be posting some round-ups to help everyone stay on the same page of all the great news sure to come from the convention. Stay tuned!
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Mattel has been hard at work lately trying to meet the concerns of fans of the DC Universe Classics line. One of the initiatives to try and better meet demand is to offer “open stock” to online retailers. This is basically a solid case of a single figure. So if Shazam is doing really well, but Killer Moth isn’t getting any orders, the online retailers can adjust their orders and order a few more cases of Shazam without worrying about getting Killer Moths that there is not demand for. Unfortunately the Wave 6 and 7 chases will not be offered in open stock due to an error or some sort, but it is the intention of Mattel to offer the Wave 8 variants in open stock. This is really great news for fans who order online.

In addition to this news, Mattel also announced that they were able to redirect all remaining stock of the KB Exclusive Maskless Batman Beyond and Sonic Arm Cyborg to online retailers. The status of these figures was in question since KB Toys has gone into liquidation and the exclusives were difficult to come by in the first place.

Great news all around and its good to see Mattel trying to address the concerns of fans and correct some early mistakes in the line’s life.

Gift Guide is a series of articles highlighting some of our top picks for gift suggestions. Each article covers a specific genre with explanations of why we think these items make worthy gifts.

Today’s gift guide is DVD + BluRay. People love movies, and some people love movies so much they want to watch the same ones over and over. In that spirit, these are selections that are worth replaying.

The Dark Knight
I don’t think I need to say much here. This years follow up to Batman Begins has become the most popular movie this decade. Oscar worthy performances, music, and direction make this a must have for any movie fan. Available on DVD, Blu-Ray High Def, and in a special Blu Ray box set with a replica Bat-Pod.

Click on the different editions for more details!

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So we have another teaser trailer for the upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum game due out next summer. This one shows a bit more of the graphics and characters that will be featured in the game, including some nice shots of Killer Croc. If you haven’t heard already, both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are voicing Batman and Joker respectively, which is a huge shout-out to fans of the animated series.

Keep checking Powet for more info and trailers of Arkham Asylum as they are released.

Gift Guide is a series of articles highlighting some of our top picks for gift suggestions. Each article covers a specific genre with explanations of why we think these items make worthy gifts.

Today’s Gift Guide topic is graphic novels. When you think about the term graphic novel today, often it is associated with comic books and superheroes. This is not always the case, however. Today’s list is comprised of half superhero stories and half non-superhero stories that are equally, if not moreso, compelling.

American Born Chinese
Gene Yang weaves together three separate stories. The first is a folk tale of a Monkey King who must come to terms with his true nature after declaring himself a god. The second storyline follows a young chinese boy that moves to America. After living there for a while, he meets another boy who recently moved from China and is quickly frustrated at his culture shock. The third plotline follows the sitcom of a boy in high school who’s Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee, comes to visit and immediately and deliberately follows one stereotype after another, completely embarassing the high schooler.

Why we like it: In addition to winning the Michael Printz Award, what could be considered the young adult literature equivalent of the Newbery Medal, the book takes a hilarious and light hearted look at racial stereotypes, coming to terms with, and appreciating this heritage.

Check out the rest of our list after the jump!
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