Shooting War Optioned
London independent producer Power has optioned the film and television rights of Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman’s Shooting War. Power will be developing a TV series based on the graphic novel. Shooting War was published in the U.S. by Grand Central Publishing and in the U.K. by Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, and was originally serialized as a webcomic on Smithmag.net. More information can be found at the Power website.

New PW Video Channel
PublishersWeekly.com will launch a new online video channel next week on March 4, with complete video footage (including a 12 minute edited segment) of the “Think Future” breakfast discussion panel on comics held last year on Nov. 14. The Think Future breakfast surveyed the new book market for comics and graphic novels and featured an all-star panel that consisted of John Cunningham, vp- marketing at DC Comics, Dan Frank, editorial director at Pantheon, Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics, Bill Schanes, v-p of purchasing at Diamond Comics Distributors, and Rich Johnson, co-publishing director of Yen Press. The panel was moderated by PW Comics Week co-editors Calvin Reid and Heidi MacDonald.

NYCC Tabs Kubert, Simon
New York Comic Con announced that Joe Simon and Joe Kubert will be Guests of Honor at the show, which will be held at the Jacob Javits Center from April 18 — 20. Kubert’s sons, Andy and Adam, will be Featured Guests, and the three of them will be on a panel about the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. Also, the three Kuberts will create a poster for the convention featuring three DC characters. Other recently announced guests include Sean Michael Wilson, Arthur Suydam, Carmine Infantino, CB Cebulski, Frank Brunner, Geoff Johns, and Ramona Fradon. More information about NYCC can be found at the NYCC website.

Glyph Award Nominees
The nominees for the 2008 Glyph Awards have been announced. The Glyph awards recognize the best in black comics and black characters, regardless of the creators background. The full list of the nominees can be found at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Con website. Also, fans can vote in the Fan Award for Best Comic on the ECBACC website; the polls are now open and will remain open until March 31. The Glyph Award winners will be announced at ECBACC, which will be held May 16 — 17.

Dark Tower Midnight Release
For the release of the second Dark Tower story arc, Dark Tower: The Long Road Home, Marvel is offering a midnight release of the book at over 80 comics stores on March 5. A full list of participating comics stores can be found at the Marvel website.

NewNaruto; Viz Down Under
A new Naruto story arc will be launched in Volume 28, which will be released on March 4th; this story arch features Naruto as a teenager. The book will cost $7.95 and will include a full-color poster insert. New volumes will be released every two months. More information can be found at the Naruto website. Also, Viz has partnered with Madman Entertainment to release manga in Australia and New Zealand. The initial Viz series which will be published include Naruto (March), Bleach (April), Death Note (May), Gentleman’s Alliance, Full Moon, Love.Com, Nana, One Piece, D. Gray Man, Black Cat, and Claymore.

Bionicle GN from Papercutz
Papercutz will be publishing Bionicle graphic novels, based on the Lego toys and video games. The books will be released in comic stores in May 2008 and in bookstores in June. The artists on the first book will be Carlos D’Anda, Richard Bennett, and Randy Elliott, and the story is written by Greg Farshtey. The stories in the book were originally created for the Lego’s Bionicle club. The hardcover book will cost $12.95 and the paperback will cost $7.95.

Berberian, Dupuy at Housing Works
French cartoonists Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian will be speaking at the Housing Works Book Café on Wednesday March 5 at 7PM. Matt Madden will be moderating the conversation. Dupuy will be signing his new solo book Haunted, which is published by Drawn & Quarterly. The event is being presented by Words Without Borders. The Housing Works Book Café is located at 126 Crosby Street in New York City. More information can be found at the Housing Works website.

Japanamerica at Kinokuniya
Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica, will moderate a panel about Japanese pop culture influence in America at the Kinokuniya bookstore in New York City. The event will be held on Wednesday February 27 at 6PM; admission is free. The panel will include Tokyopop manga artists James Barry, Melissa De Jesus, June Kim, and Hiroki Otsuka. There will also be a cosplay contest. Kinokuniya is located at 1073 Avenue of Americas between 40th and 41st Streets, and the event will be held on the 2nd floor at the Kinokuniya café Zaiya. More information can be found at Kelts’ Blog.

Hotwire Signing Reslated
The Hotwire 2 signing at Rocketship, originally scheduled for February 22, has been rescheduled due to increment weather to Friday March 14 from 8 to 10 PM.

Tank Girl Prose Novel
For Tank Girl’s 20th Anniversary, Titan Books will release a Tank Girl prose novel by co-creator Alan Martin. Tank Girl: Armadillo and a Bushel of Other Stories will be released April 2008 and will cost $9.95.

DIY Amulet Comic
Scholastic’s Amulet website has a new game which allows kids to create their own Amulet comic book, by choosing various layouts, characters, and settings. Amulet is a graphic novel by Kazu Kibuishi.