In recent weeks, news has appeared about several comics to live action adaptations that may be on the way.

The most likely is "Starman," by the "Smallville" and "Birds of Prey" people. It's from DC Comics' recent series written by James Robinson that ran for about 80 issues, not the Jeff Bridges movie where he says "What is kid-nap-ed?" It's about the son of a superhero. The mantle falls to the black sheep of the family when his brother is killed, and he becomes an unlikely hero.

I happen to be a big Starman freak, and I own every issue, and the logo shirt. So I'll watch. If I'm the only one, I have no problem with that.

Next up: Night Thrasher. He was an early to mid-90s Marvel hero who was an urban vigilante.

And he had a skateboard! He HAD A SKATEBOARD. Hence the "thrasher" of the title. Yet another poor Marvel hero created too late for whatever cultural buzz he was trying to capitalize upon. Skateboarding was really a big thing, until he showed up. I don't know if he ever teamed up with Disco Dazzler.

Lastly, a company has snapped up the rights to King Features' "Mandrake the Magician" comic strip. Mandrake has been around since the 1940s. He had a super-badass sidekick named Lothar.

You might remember him from the 1980s' "Defenders of the Earth" cartoon. According to the theme song, Mandrake was "master of magic spells and illusion. Enemies crumble in fear and confusion."

That same company also got "The Phantom" rights. He was also in "Defenders of the Earth." The theme song said "The beasts call him brother."

Still don't remember him? How about this: Billy Zane, purple underwear. Yep, that one.