Tools of the trade and books once belonging to legendary comic writer Dennis O'Neil are headed to new homes.

O'Neil, the longtime Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow scribe, passed away in 2020, and many of his belongings were auctioned off by Metropolis Collectibles via ComicConnect.com on March 2. The 31 lots in total sold for just over $33,000 (before 15% buyers' premium).

Many of the lots, 18 in all, were custom-bound volumes of O'Neil's work. One volume containing the very rare Canceled Comic Cavalcade, a nearly 1000-page omnibus DC rushed out in '78 to secure copyright on canceled titles, sold for a whopping $11,000. The previous known record for a copy of Canceled Comic Cavalcade (by itself) was $3860.

Another bound volume of O'Neil's work on The Question sold for a staggering $5000, buoyed by the fact that it contained O'Neil's handwritten notes on the book.

Some of O'Neil's personal items also went up on the auction block. His typewriter (and Batman mouse pad) sold for $430, while his desk went for $2766. (via GamesRadar)

South Park is bringing out a brand new Vaccination Special this month on Comedy Central. The show released a trailer that picks up where things left off in Colorado.

Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny are all rocking masks and terrifying their neighbors. The boys will have to go gather as many vaccine doses as possible and try to get their teacher back. Some of the students at the school won’t be on-board with the scheme. Others will try and help Cartman and his friends get all those dosages. People trying to stop distribution, others trying to finesse their way into an early shot, and other strange elements of modern life are all being targeted by the special.

The Pandemic Episode last year took a similar approach by drawing on the entire news cycle of 2020. By the end, the characters were just exhausted and wanted a break from everything going on. So, it stands to reason there will be some other kind of statement near the end of this one. (via ComicBook)

South ParQ The Vaccination Special will air on MTV2 on Wednesday, March 10th at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/0CtDvYhi3P4

Filming on Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam is set to begin this April, according to producer Hiram Garcia.

"We're getting started soon, you know actually, we begin filming in April, we'll be in Georgia, home away from home," Garcia said. "We're really excited man, we have everything is ramped up, we're so fired up for this."

Garcia also discussed how passionate he and Johnson were about making Black Adam a reality.

"This is very special to us, and you know, not only Black Adam, but JSA, and all these characters we're introducing to the world and, what we want to do with it, we're just... Look, we were supposed to have been filming last year. COVID, like it delayed everyone, it kinda got in the way, but we're happy we're able to pause, regroup, and now we're going to be getting going, and by April we'll be shooting and on track to bring this thing home."

The film has yet to receive a release date. (via CBR)

Nickelodeon has given the official greenlight to The Patrick Star Show (13 episodes), the second spinoff of the number-one animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. Produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, The Patrick Star Show is a family sitcom starring Patrick and the rest of his family as they are constantly disrupted by Patrick’s wild whims and surreal imagination. The series will debut this summer on Nickelodeon.

“Nickelodeon is diving deeper into Bikini Bottom to give fans a look at our lovable young adult Patrick Star and his entire family with a sitcom only he could imagine up,” said Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation. “This second original spinoff allows us to expand our reach, tell new stories and connect with our audience around the world who continue to love these characters.”

The Patrick Star Show follows a younger Patrick Star living at home with his family, where he hosts his own show for the neighborhood from his television-turned-bedroom. His little sister, Squidina, works behind the scenes to make sure Patrick’s show is always running smoothly, while his parents, Bunny and Cecil and his grandpa, GrandPat, each support Patrick in their own hilariously absurd ways. The Star family’s unpredictable adventures often inform, integrate, and sometimes even interfere with Patrick’s TV show, but one thing is for sure: his bizarre life always makes for great television!

Longtime voice of Patrick Star, Bill Fagerbakke, lends his voice as the young adult Patrick alongside new cast members: Tom Wilson (SpongeBob SquarePants, Back to the Future) as Cecil Star, Patrick’s fun-loving, happy-go-lucky dad who always puts his family first; Cree Summer (A Different World, Inspector Gadget) as Bunny Star, Patrick’s loving, sea star mom who is a kooky oddball; Jill Talley (SpongeBob SquarePants) as Squidina Star, Patrick’s eight-year-old little sister who sees herself as Patrick’s executive producer for his imaginary TV show; and Dana Snyder (The Penguins of Madagascar, Chowder) as GrandPat Star, Patrick’s genius grandpat, the most intelligent member of the Star family. Summer also voices Grandma Tentacles, Squidward’s grandma.

Additional cast members include veteran actors Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward Tentacles), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy Cheeks), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Mr. Lawrence (Plankton). (via NickAlive)

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar talked about expanding the world of Harry Potter for HBO Max and Warner Bros. during an appearance at an investors conference on Thursday.

"There's this little thing called Harry Potter, which is one of the most beloved franchises. And we're incredibly thankful to be able to partner with J.K. Rowling and so I would argue there's lot of fun and potential there as well," Kilar told the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference during a session that was webcast.

Kilar did not elaborate on what those development plans might be, but recent speculation has pointed to Warner Bros. looking to expand the famed film franchise by putting a Harry Potter live-action TV series in early development at HBO Max.

And on the movie front, there's talk Warner Bros. could be developing a new tentpole based on the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play. Discussion about possible sequels for Harry Potter — whose rights Warner Bros. controls along with creator J.K. Rowling — came as Kilar was talking about the creative fortunes going forward for Warner Bros.

And that trajectory continues to be bound up with HBO Max as WarnerMedia parent AT&T has placed a big bet on streaming with its direct-to-consumer offering. Kilar pointed to HBO and HBO Max now standing at a combined 41.5 million subscribers to date, well ahead of projections. (via THR)

THR reports that Soul and Wolfwalkers lead the Annie Awards feature nominations with 10 apiece. They are followed by Onward and Over the Moon, with seven apiece, and The Croods: A New Age and The Willoughbys, with six apiece.

Disney/Pixar's jazz-themed Soul, directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Kemp Powers, is nominated for best animated feature, while Wolfwalkers, the Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart-helmed Apple original Irish fantasy produced by Cartoon Saloon and Melusine with domestic theatrical distribution from GKIDS, is nominated for best independent animated feature. Both movies scored nominations for directing, character animation, character design, FX, music, production design, storyboarding and writing. Soul is additionally nominated for editing while Wolfwalkers earned its tenth nom for voice acting (Eva Whittaker as Mebh).

Also nominated for best feature are Onward, The Croods: A New Age, The Willoughbys and Trolls World Tour. The best independent animated feature category also includes nominees A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Calamity Jane, On-Gaku: On Sound and Ride Your Wave.

The category for an independent animated film was added to the event in 2015. In four of the last five years, the winner of the best animated feature category went on to win the Oscar for best animated feature.

The Annie Awards for animation will be presented by ASIFA-Hollywood during a virtual ceremony on April 16.

A complete list of nominations can be seen by clicking here.

Variety reports that Apple has ordered a live-action series adaptation of the Korean webtoon Dr. Brain. The series will be the first completely Korean-language project at the streamer.

Kim Jee-Woon will write and direct, with Parasite star Lee Sun-Kyun set to star. The series is currently in production in South Korea and is slated to debut later this year.

Dr. Brain follows a brain scientist who is obsessive about figuring out new technologies to access the consciousness and memories of the brain. His life goes sideways when his family falls victim to a mysterious accident, and he uses his skills to access memories from his wife’s brain to piece together the mystery of what actually happened to his family and why.

A lot of characters from the Marvel Comics universe are set to head to the small screen in the coming years, between an array of Marvel Studios series set for Disney+, and Sony series that are expected to debut on Amazon Prime. The first series announced for the latter category is Silk, a live-action series that is expected to follow the story of Cindy Moon.

While details have been relatively slim since the series was announced last year, a new report from The Illuminerdi sheds light on how the cast and crew of the series are coming together. The report indicates that Sang Kyu Kim (The Walking Dead, Jupiter's Legacy) is set to serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series.

The report also includes a casting description for Cindy Moon, who is described as a Korean-American between 19 and 29 years old who is a kid from Queens who is on her own for the first time. Although she’s a total beginner in law enforcement and fighting crime, she is said to love the feeling of beating up criminals to let her frustrations out, and has an affinity for ‘80s and ‘90s pop culture. She also struggles with her identity and heritage, but she tries to focus on her family, friends, and relationships.

While there's no telling exactly who will be cast in the lead role, the report also reveals that producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller have reportedly met with actress Adeline Rudolph, who is best known for her role on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and currently appears on Riverdale.

Good Trouble and Atypical alum Lauren Moon was previously in talks to write the Silk series. The show will be part of Lord and Miller's overall deal to develop Spider-Man-themed TV shows. (via ComicBook)

Variety reports that Jospeh Gordon-Levitt will provide the voice of Jiminy Cricket, while Cynthia Erivo will play the Blue Fairy in Disney’s live-action retelling of Pinocchio.

They join a cast that includes Tom Hanks as Geppetto and Luke Evans as The Coachman. In addition, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, who previously starred in Flora and Ulysses, will voice Pinocchio, the puppet who dreamed of becoming a real boy, with Keegan-Michael Key as the voice of Honest John and Lorraine Bracco as the voice of Sofia the Seagull, a new character.

Pinocchio will combine live-action elements with extensive visual effects.

The film will be directed by Forest Gump’s Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Chris Weitz. Production will begin this month in the U.K. and the film will debut on Disney Plus, the company’s streaming service. Andrew Miano and Weitz are producing through their company Depth of Field along with Zemeckis’s Imagemovers.

Anime Expo was just one of many conventions last year, anime or otherwise, that was forced to transition from an in-person event to a virtual one, and it seems as if the long-running convention might be disappointing fans as they confirm that they will be following suit this year with their 2021 Con taking place virtually.

In an official statement, the convention noted that the event which was slated for this summer, in the month of July specifically, would need to take place digitally thanks to the coronavirus pandemic still in the world today.

In the official statement delivered by Ray Chiang, the Chief Executive Officer for the Society of the Promotion of Japanese Animation, the convention is confirmed to be going completely virtual for its 30th-anniversary event that will be landing this summer:

"With the continued uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, it is apparent that we will not be able to safely hold a physical show this July for Anime Expo 2021. We will miss gearing up for a full weekend of parading around the LACC and reuniting with friends just as much as you will, but we take comfort in knowing this separation is only temporary and that it’s the right thing to do. While we’re not able to meet in-person, we still want to celebrate 2021 in honor of our 30th anniversary, and we will continue to share stories, photos, and memories with #AnimeExpo30th!" (via ComicBook)