Bluewater Prods. has expanded the RAY HARRYHAUSEN PRESENTS comic line with nine new titles for 2008.

In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of some of the Harryhausen classic films, Sony DVD is releasing IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA and EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS. Bluewater will release comics inspired by these classics as well. The Sony DVDs will include previews of the comics as part of the special features.

Titan Books has acquired worldwide rights to a deluxe making-of book for the Lionsgate and Odd Lot Ent. production of Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT. Featuring interviews with the cast and crew, color photos, storyboards and production art, plus the full screenplay, the book is slated for publication Dec. 2008, ahead of the movie's release on Jan 16, 2009.

A new coffee-table book chronicling the animated hstory of Nickolodeon's Nicktoons will hit the shelves of major retailers this month. NOT JUST CARTOONS: NICKTOONS (Melcher Media, $40.00), edited by Jerry Beck, is the first book to cover the entire Nicktoons story that began on Sunday, Aug. 11, 1991, when Nickelodeon first unleashed REN & STIMPY, DOUG and RUGRATS on an unsuspecting nation.

IDW Publishing is set to re-release the definitive visual adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic vampire novel I AM LEGEND. When IDW Publishing first released its graphic adaptation of I AM LEGEND, the trade paperback became an immediate best-seller and quickly sold out. Now IDW will resurrect the out-of-print book with a new deluxe edition that showcases the original novel's vision in advance of the December film adaptation, starring Will Smith, from Warner Bros. Pictures.

This coming Wednesday, October 10, the first issue of DC Comics' three-issue mini-series, CAPTAIN CARROT AND THE FINAL ARK, co-created by Scott Shaw! and Roy Thomas, hits stands. CAPTAIN CARROT AND THE FINAL ARK has been written by Bill Morrison, drawn by Scott Shaw!, inked by Al Gordon, colored by Tom Luth, lettered by Ken Lopez and edited by Joey Cavalieri.

TOKYOPOP and The Jim Henson Co. have announced LEGENDS OF THE DARK CRYSTAL: THE GARTHIM WARS, the all-new manga prequel to THE DARK CRYSTAL. The graphic novel was written by Barbara Randall Kesel, with illustrations by Heidi Arnhold & Max Kim and a special cover painted by Jae-Hwan Kim (WARCRAFT, WAR ANGELS, KING OF HELL).

Electronic Arts Inc. and BL Publishing, a division of Games Workshop, announced that BL Publishing will release an original novel based on the highly anticipated MMORPG, WARHAMMER ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING. The first book in the new series of novels set in the Age of Reckoning, EMPIRE IN CHAOS, will be available in all major bookstores and on the BL Publishing website in early 2008.

Aviator and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson announced that Virgin Comics will be bringing legendary superhero Dan Dare out of retirement with an all-new comic book series. The monthly series, to be written by legendary comic author Garth Ennis (PREACHER, THE BOYS, HITMAN, JOHN WOO'S SEVEN BROTHERS), will premiere in November 2007.

Scholastic, DK and Penguin have inked deals with Lucas Licensing to bring the adventures of Indiana Jones to children's books in connection with the May 22, 2008, release of the fourth installment in the INDIANA JONES film series.

Disney Press will publish a new edition of CINDERELLA featuring artwork by long-time Disney designer Mary Blair, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY reports. The book, with new text by Cynthia Rylant and illustrations based on Blair's design work from the 1940s, is due out this month. Disney Press ordered a first print run of 50,000.