While Warner Bros. will be taking another stab at Superman on the big screen with this summer’s Zack Snyder-directed Man of Steel, it’s no secret that the studio worked for years on a new iteration of the character before both Man of Steel and Bryan Singer’s 2006 film Superman Returns came to fruition.  A number of screenwriters and directors tried to crack Superman, and one of the better-known versions that never made it to the screen is the J.J. Abrams-scripted Superman: Flyby.  Abrams’ take was an origin story that saw Krypton besieged by a civil war that spills over onto Earth, but it was eventually passed over in favor of Singer’s Returns story.

Steve recently landed an exclusive interview with DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, and during the course of their conversation Steve asked Johns if DC would ever consider turning one of the many Warner Bros.-owned unproduced screenplays for a superhero movie into a direct-to-video animated feature.  Johns revealed that, in fact, that notion has come up before.  Hit the jump for more.

One of the many cool things to see outside of Comic-Con this year is DC Entertainment’s Darkness & Light art show.  Featuring original paintings and drawings of your favorite Justice League characters, the show is aimed at raising awareness and funds for the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.  The show is part of a bigger initiative called We Can Be Heroes which you can learn about here.

If you’re in the San Diego area, I suggest stopping by to see the art for yourself.  It’s running until July 15th at the Michael J. Wolf Fine Arts Gallery.  However, if you’re not in the area, or you’d like to see what’s on display right now, I took pictures of almost everything there.  Hit the jump to check it out.

There’s an undeniable irony to Watchmen – Alan Moore’s great critique of the comic superhero, which began as an appropriation of The Mighty Crusaders – now finding itself appropriated by a series of new artists (much to Moore’s chagrin) in the upcoming prequel Before Watchmen.  The seven part series focuses on the principle characters of the comic – Rorschach, the Comedian, Night Owl, Ozymandias, Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre – before the events of Moore/Gibbons’ magnum opus.

At the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, DC Entertainment Co-Publisher’s Dan DiDio and Jim Lee were on hand to discuss the highly anticipated but divisive prequel at a panel called DC Entertainment Presents: Watchmen – It’s Not the End, It’s the Beginning.  The panel and proceeding round table covered a gauntlet of topics ranging from DC’s relationship with creative artists to the financial realities of the comic industry (i.e. why a Watchmen prequel is a good thing) to just why the hell anyone would ever make a prequel to arguably the most beloved comic of all time.  Alan Moore’s specter loomed large over the proceedings – with a series of very pointed questions over Moore’s falling out with DC and his lack of involvement (let’s be honest – outright disdain) with the resulting Watchmen film and now comic spin-offs.  For the sometimes-heated conversation with DiDio and Lee, hit the jump.

DC Entertainment is following in Marvel’s footsteps by taking one of their most successful franchises on a foray into live action. A joint project of Warner Bros., DC and Nick Grace of Water Lane Productions, Ltd., BATMAN LIVE promises to be a “unique, action-packed live show,” complete with “impressive stunts, pyrotechnics, illusions and video screen sequences.”

The tour will open in the UK in July 2011, sweep across Europe and land on North American shores in the summer of 2012 (just in time for the debut of The Dark Knight Rises)  For those of you who are worried that BATMAN LIVE will turn into another Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, rest assured. In the words of the executive producer Nick Grace (Walking with Dinosaurs – The Live Arena Show):

“BATMAN LIVE will be a totally unique experience.  This is not a musical but a high quality live show with a thrilling Batman story, filled with action that will appeal to adults, teenagers and families”

Hit the jump for information on how you can purchase tickets.

Though there had been talk about a film adaptation about the seminal comic book series The Sandman from Neil Gaiman (who also wrote the source material for such adaptations as Coraline and Stardust), but now Heat Vision reports the property is now in the early stages of being developed into a TV show over at Warner Bros. The studio is currently acquiring the rights from DC Entertainment and have already begun talks with various writers and producers for the TV adaptation. Apparently the top choice right now is Eric Kripke, most well known for creating Supernatural, but at the moment author Neil Gaiman is currently not involved with these developments which could create problems down the road. For those unfamiliar with the property you can find story details are after the jump.

Warner Bros. must really love the Green Lantern dailies. In a bold move, the studio has decided to have the writers of Green Lantern, Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim, develop treatments for both Green Lantern 2 and The Flash. Additionally, the trio would then go on to write the screenplay for one of the films. Heat Vision Blog is reporting that Green Lantern 2 will ostensibly continue the intergalactic story of Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) while The Flash will probably use the Barry Allen version of the character. At the very least, the writing is in capable hands considering that Berlanti, Guggenheim and Green have created the TV series Everwood, Eli Stone and Kings, respectively. Hit the jump for my thoughts on this big news.

You may recall our coverage of new DC Entertainment President, Diane Nelson’s, plan for the future direction of her division. Well, news is coming down the pipe that that new direction does not include The Man of Steel, as Nelson confirms that there are no present plans to bring the Last Son of Krypton to the silver screen in the near future. “We’ve obviously done a lot of great things behind the property in our history, and it’s a key part of our family,” says Nelson, “but we don’t have current plans behind Superman.” This comes as something of a surprise after all the talk about the future of the franchise, from James McTiegue’s comments on what he would do with the property, to comic writer Mark Millar’s constant threats to write a screenplay to reboot the series. Absorb some yellow sun rays and hit the jump to read more.

As we reported last week, mere days after Disney’s acquisition of Marvel and its well-organized slate of comic book adaptations, Warner Bros. countered by restructuring DC Comics into the WB. The result? DC Entertainment, a new division within Warner Bros. headed by Diane Nelson that will report directly to Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov. She’s got big plans for DCE and new films featuring old favorites are only the start. Learn about her vision for DCE, how it represents a significant shift in the way comic book properties are viewed and whether or not Kanye West thought Dawn Ostroff got robbed after the jump.