Congratulations to Simon Strain who was chosen as the winner of the August contest for an autographed copy of Marc Tyler Nobleman's book "Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman! Your prize is on it's way to you Simon.

For our September contest, the Superman Super Site has teamed with Shubrook Brothers Publications to give away one (1) copy of their latest book, "Special Effects Superman: The Miniature Effects of Derek Meddings"!

Official description

After his career in the film industry took flight with Gerry Anderson in 1957, Derek Meddings proceeded to head the effects team and design every major vehicle from Stingray to Thunderbirds and beyond. When the Anderson studio closed in 1970, Derek moved into movies and headed the effects on over 20 motion pictures.

His effects accolades include; six James Bond films from Live and Let Die to Goldeneye, Batman, Supergirl, Santa Claus: The Movie and The Neverending Story. Derek Meddings also headed the miniature effects on the first three Superman films and won an Oscar for his achievements on Superman: The Movie.

Special Effects Superman is a tribute to Derek Meddings and his amazing career and will include nearly 300 'on set' photographs from the Meddings family personal collection and stories from those who worked with Derek throughout his career.

As reported previously, "Smallville - The Complete 7th Season" is coming to stores on both DVD and Blu-ray on September 9. The set consists of all 20 episodes of the previous season, packed with bonus materials, featurettes, mobisodes and commentaries. In line with this release, Warner Bros. has created a special website where fans can create their own Smallville trailer and win tons of prizes too.

No purchase is necessary to enter or win in Smallville's trailer contest. The contest, which began on August 15 and is scheduled to end at 11:59pm PT on September 23, aims to have fans create their own video trailer using the library of video clips, sound effects, music, transitions and graphics provided at smallvilletrailermaker.warnerbros.com. After each video trailer has been uploaded on the website, site visitors may vote for the best promotional piece.

20 finalists will be judged by a panel of judges based on creativity, uniqueness and general audience appeal. The judges will then select the nine promotional pieces with highest scores and will name the participants who created them as potential prize winners. Eight first place winners will be given a Nokia 5310 Xpress Music series phone and, of course, the "Smallville - The Complete 7th Season" DVD. As for the grand prize winner, he or she will be awarded a Nokia 5310 Xpress Music series phone, a LG Scarlet 37” Flat-Panel LCD HDTV and an Ultimate Smallville Fan Gift Set.

Meanwhile, fans can also catch the return of Smallville for its eighth season on September 18 at 8pm on The CW. The new season stars Tom Welling (Clark Kent), Erica Durance (Lois Lane), Allison Mack (Chloe Sullivan) and Aaron Ashmore (Jimmy Olsen), just to name a few, and introduces the character Davis Bloome/Doomsday, played by Sam Witwer.

A new fan edit of "Superman: II" has recently been completed by the Fortress of Solitude Forum member Ollie W.

The version of the film, entitled "Superman: II - The Complete Cut", is available for download in the following 21 parts:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21

Brad Meltzer, New York Times #1 bestselling author, in partnership with The Siegel and Shuster Society, has announced the launch of a celebrity charity auction to fund the restoration of the home of Jerry Siegel, creator of Superman.

Through Meltzer's recently launched website, OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld.com, fans of Superman can bid online for one-of-a-kind art and memorabilia donated by some of the country's most notable writers and artists, with all proceeds going to the restoration of the Siegel house and helping to turn it into a historic landmark.

While conducting extensive research for his newly released novel, The Book of Lies, Meltzer visited the boyhood home of Jerry Siegel in Cleveland, Ohio, where Superman -- one of the world's most recognized heroes -- was created and saw the house was in extreme disrepair. Immediately, he knew he had to do something to honor the legend. Thanks to the hard work of many in the city of Cleveland, The Siegel & Shuster Society was created and is dedicated to commemorating and celebrating the creation of Superman in Cleveland by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

To help raise the necessary funds to repair and restore the house, Meltzer enlisted the help of his friends and fellow comic book writers and artists, including Neil Gaiman, Brian Michael Bendis, Dave Gibbons, Jim Lee, Tim Sale, Jeph Loeb, Ed Brubaker and others who donated original artwork, naming rights in upcoming books, an appearance on TV's Heroes, and other Superman collectibles. Stephen Colbert donated a VIP visit to his show. The family of Jerry Siegel was so moved by the event, they revealed the existence of six Superman t-shirts that Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel signed before his death, and donated one of the six shirts to the auction.

"When I saw that the house where Superman was created was in disrepair (watch the video here), it just seemed wrong," Meltzer said. "The house where Google was created is saved. The farm where Hewlett Packard was founded is preserved. The Superman house deserves the same respect."

Beginning September 2, 2008 at midnight, and running through 11:59 p.m. on September 30, 2008, OrdinaryPeopleChangetheWorld.com will host this historic online auction, through eBay Giving Works, to raise enough money to ensure the Siegel house will be around as a historic landmark for years to come.

"This is the house where a young man dreamed of a hero that could lift the spirits of a world in turmoil and give hope to the hopeless. He created a great American icon inside these walls. That young man was my father, writer Jerry Siegel, and I am thrilled that so many people are working together to honor him and preserve this very special place," said Laura Siegel Larson, daughter of Jerry Siegel and honorary co-chairperson.

"We've always relied on Superman to be there when we needed him," Meltzer added. "This is our chance to be there for him."

Visit OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld.com and help make history. Visitors can donate money, buy a Siegel & Shuster Society t-shirt designed by legendary graphic designer, Chip Kidd, or bid on priceless Superman collectibles, while helping to preserve an American landmark.

OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld.com would like to thank the following artists and authors who have donated items to help save the Siegel house: Murphy Anderson, Chris Bachalo Michael Bair, Allen Bellman, Brian Michael Bendis, Dan Brereton, Ed Brubaker, John Cassady, Ernie Chan, Travis Charest, Frank Cho, Ian Churchill, Stephen Colbert, Amanda Conner, Geoff Darrow, Richard Donner, Neil Gaiman, Ron Garney, Dave Gibbons, Renato Guedes, Gene Ha, Heroes (walk on), Geoff Johns, Dave Johnson, Adam Kubert, Andy Kubert, Jim Lee, Jeph Loeb, Dave Mandel, Brad Meltzer, Mike Mignola, Rags Morales, Bill Morrison, Ivan Reis, John Romita Jr., Alex Ross, Jason Palmer, George Perez, Eric Powell, Joe Quesada, Greg Rucka, Tim Sale, Jerry Siegel, Walt Simonson, Joe Staton, Michael Turner, Eric Wight, Judd Winick.

Click here to view a complete list of the auction items.

The CW has released the following 12 images from the second episode of Season 8 of "Smallville" entitled "Plastique":

In an interview with Fresh Ink’s Blair Butler, comic book author Mark Millar said he’d like to make a trilogy of films for a re-booted Superman series, and it might happen. Millar's vision for a new Superman:

"I've had this plan for like 10 years for a big three-picture Superman thing, like a Lord of the Rings epic, starting over from scratch again with a seven-hour Superman story. One to be released each year." Millar said.

Millar says there's nothing firm yet, but he hopes to get word over the next few weeks. If everything goes perfectly, they'll be shooting next summer. Check it out below:

The first episode of "Smallville" Season 8, entitled "Odyssey", premieres in the United States on Thursday, September 18th at 8pm on the CW Network. The CW's official description is as follows:

"The Justice League, led by the Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), hits the Artic in search of Clark (Tom Welling), who disappeared after the fortress collapsed. The team immediately has a confrontation with the new CEO of Luthorcorp, Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman). Meanwhile, Chloe (Allison Mack) is being held prisoner by a suspicious group who has discovered she has a new power, and Clark has been stripped of his powers by Jor-El."

Kevin Fair directed the episode, with the story by Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders and teleplay by Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer.

The CW has released 12 images for this episode:

BlueTights.net reports that fans of Brandon Routh over at Brandonrouth.com have started a letter writing campaign to keep him in the tights. Here's a clip from the letter they're sending:

Suspending the current storyline out of perceived commercial expedience is not the way to go, particularly as a knee-jerk reaction to the success of the Batman franchise, and especially when there are plenty of fans out there that want to know how the relationships established in Returns are dealt with in the context of peril that the sequel had promised.

Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has announced the release of "Superman: 4 Film Favorites", a special 2-Disc set containing all four original Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve. Here are the DVD specs:

Format: Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Number of discs: 2
Rating: PG
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: October 14, 2008
Run Time: 492 minutes

Several weeks ago TVShowsonDVD.com passed along word from ToonZone that the DC Animation group's panel at the San Diego Comic Con had said this:

Some news was revealed regarding the November 25th Blu-ray two-disc release of Superman: Doomsday. Extra features will include four bonus episodes of Superman the Animated Series hand-picked by Bruce Timm and 128 minutes worth of extra content.

Titan Publishing's companion book for the seventh season of Smallville, written by KryptonSite's Craig Byrne, has a new release date - October 14, 2008 - and a revised cover image.

Originally, the cover was quite crowded and featured six of the season's eight cast members; the revised version cuts that down to three characters who were very important to Season 7 - Clark, his cousin Kara, and Lex, who had a powerful and thrilling final season on the show.

If you haven't yet, pre-order a copy of the book from Amazon.com - hopefully you will like what you see! The book features interviews with many of the show's actors, producers, writers, and crew members, as well as an assortment of guest stars! If that's not enough for you, the Foreword for the book is written by "Kara" herself, Laura Vandervoort.

Last week, Warner Bros. announced that they would be making some major changes with their film franchises based on the rampant success of “The Dark Knight.” However, despite mentions of “Batman 3” and the possibility of at least two new franchises starting up, the one topic that seems to be on everyone’s minds is “Superman,” and how Warner Bros. not only plans to reboot the franchise after the disappointing box office from “Superman Returns,” but to give the film a much darker tone and feel.

Smallville fans were treated to a very Q&A with Michael Rosenbaum and Laura Vandervoort at FanExpo 2008 in Toronto. The lineup began early and snaked around the convention floor as the crowd waited to see Lex Luthor and Supergirl, characters not returning for the series’ eight season. From the moment the handsome Rosenbaum, with a full head of hear, and the stunning Vandervoort, looking like a young Charlize Theron, danced on stage, you could tell it was going to be a light, humor-laced Q&A.

Rosenbaum started things off by complimenting hometown girl Vandervoort’s parents, seated in the front row. He mentioned that their daughter worked hard on Smallville, and looked better than him. He and Vandervoort constantly joked around between questions, sharing stories of pranks on set that he orchestrated. Vandervoort did say that his humor helped with her nervousness in her first major role, although he’d often distract her from her lines and mess up saying her last name.

Since its start, Smallville has featured guest appearances by actors from the Superman film franchise, including Margo Kidder, Helen Slater and the late Christopher Reeve. Rosenbaum shared that he would have liked to see Gene Hackman, something that he insisted would probably never happen. Rosenbaum emphasized this point with his impression of Hackman on the phone with his agent refusing to do the show.

Vandervoort, who didn’t think she’d get the role of Supergirl when she auditioned against a number of actresses with more extensive credits, mused that her role on Smallville was originally intended to lead to her own spin off series, which didn’t work out. She did reveal a major tidbit of news, though – she will be back for one episode in Season Eight to tie up her storyline. She shared that one of the highlights of being on Smallville was working with James Marsters. She grew up watching Buffy, and was a big fan, to the point of writing Joss Whedon when she was a kid and asking if she could be on the show. Years later, Vandervoort had the chance to audition for Whedon, who remembered her letter.

Everyone was curious to know what is next for both actors, now that Smallville is behind them. Rosenbaum is presently in negotiations for a film role, but mentioned that he’d love to star in his own comedy series, something along the lines of Everybody Loves Raymond. Also, there’s still a chance that his script, Welcome to Paradise, based on his childhood in the 80s, could still be made into a series; it was picked up by Fox back in 2005. Vandervoort is currently working on Into the Blue 2, followed by an appearance on the small screen in a Movie of the Week.

Fred Crane, a former longtime Los Angeles classical music radio station announcer who achieved a slice of film immortality as an actor who played one of the handsome Tarleton twins opposite George Reeves in the 1939 movie classic "Gone With the Wind," has died. He was 90.

Crane was the oldest surviving adult male cast member of "Gone With the Wind," producer David O. Selznick's epic production of the Margaret Mitchell novel starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh.

"I'm just a small shard in a grand mosaic," he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2007.

As Brent Tarleton, one of Scarlett O'Hara's young suitors, Crane spoke the opening lines in the film in a scene on the front porch of Tara with Leigh as Scarlett and George Reeves as his twin, Stuart.

When he was cast in "Gone With the Wind," the 20-year-old Crane hadn't read Mitchell's best-selling novel and wasn't even looking for a role in the film.

"It was a matter of being in right place at the right time," Crane later said.

A New Orleans native, Crane attended both Tulane University and Loyola University in New Orleans and acted in local theater productions.

In 1938, his mother gave him $50 and a one-way train ticket to Hollywood.

After arriving, Crane contacted his cousin, former silent film actress Leatrice Joy, who took him along with her to the Selznick studio, where her daughter was auditioning for the role of Scarlett's sister, Suellen.

Evelyn Keyes wound up playing Suellen, but Crane's southern accent caught the attention of the casting director, who called director George Cukor, and together they took Crane to meet Selznick.

Crane became a part-time announcer at Los Angeles classical radio station KFAC in 1946. He continued to act, mostly in television, until the mid-1960s, when he began working full time at KFAC.

Crane is survived by his wife Terry and her son Trey. If you are interested in sending your sympathies, please write to:

Terry Crane
P.O. Box 937
Barnesville, GA 30204

Terry thanks you all for your care and love for Fred. There will never be another.

In an early announcement to retailers, Warner Home Video has revealed that they will re-release the Bryan Singer film 'Superman Returns' on September 9th with a Dolby TrueHD and PCM soundtracks. To the disappointment of fans, the original Blu-ray release featured only a Dolby Digital soundtrack while the HD DVD got the lossless audio track. Warner is now rectifying the situation with a proper Blu-ray release.

Editions of 'Superman Returns' with the Dolby TrueHD soundtrack were originally made available in a limited quantity with the purchase of certain Pioneer Blu-ray players. Since that time, fans have been eagerly awaiting Warner to re-release the title with the upgraded soundtrack.

No other specs are expected to change for the re-release. The release has been given a new UPC code.