Doc Savage sighting!

Interesting photo and article on Newsarama.com today. Dare we hope for a new Doc Savage comic?

At the San Diego Comic Con 2008, uber-producer Michael Uslan announced that Warner Brothers is in development of a new Doc Savage movie (I'm not easily finding a YouTube video from San Diego, but here's one from the NYC convention earlier this year). Being just a week removed from the Uslan-produced "Dark Knight," Fan boys across the nation erupted in joy. "Arnold Schwarzenegger as Doc!" cried some, forgetting that this is not 1994. "No, we need Brendan Fraser!" countered others, forgetting that the Doc Savage we all know and love is in his late 20s / early 30s during his prime adventuring years.

Since then, of course, Uslan released the mediocre "The Spirit" to so-so critical acclaim and so-so box office. Fan boys suddenly remembered that for every "Batman Begins," Warner Brothers also released the movie so bad I solemnly swore to never again mention it by name (I had won a free pass to see this abomination, and still was upset that I paid for the gas to drive to the theater).

My expectations of a quality Doc Savage movie to erase the horrid 1975 attempt are muted. I have long held that Doc Savage works better as a comic book character than he would on the big screen.

Maybe, hopefully, DC Comics agrees?

But then, I learned that the Newsarama picture is actually cropped from this -- a mash-up of Doc Savage, The Spirit, Blackhawk, and I'm not sure who the lady with the black panther is supposed to be. So now, I'm not sure if the picture is actually a a comic book teaser, or simply a vanity painting by comic artist Brian Stelfreeze.

My earlier excitement is waning. I'll stop holding my breath, and go back to reading my pulp reprints.